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CHATS  ON 
OLD  FURNITURE 


3 


Jacobean  Chair. 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 

Press  Notices,  First  Edition. 

“ Mr.  Hayden  knows  his  subject  intimately.”— Pn//  Mall  Gazette. 

“ The  hints  to  collectors  are  the  best  and  clearest  we  have  seen  ; so  that  altogether 
this  is  a model  book  of  its  kind.” — AthencBiim. 

“A  useful  and  instructive  volume.” — Spectator. 

‘‘An  abundance  of  illustrations  completes  a well-written  and  well-constructed 
history.” — Daily  News. 

‘‘Mr.  Hayden’s  taste  is  sound  and  his  knowledge  thorough.”— Sco/s;;m7i. 

‘‘A  book  of  more  than  usual  comprehensiveness  and  more  than  usual  merit.”— 

Vanity  Fair . 

“ Mr.  Hayden  has  worked  at  his  subject  on  sj^stematic  lines,  and  has  made  his  book 
what  it  purports  to  be — a practical  givide  for  the  collector.” — Saturday  Review. 


CHATS  ON  ENGLISH  CHINA 

BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 

Fourth  Impression.  Price  5s.  net. 

With  Coloured  Frontispiece  and  Reproductions  oj  !$(>  Marks  and  ii8  Illustrations 
of  China. 

A List  of  SALE  PRICES  and  a full  INDEX  increase  the  usefulness  of  the  Volume 

This  is  a handy  book  of  reference  to  enable  amateur  Collectors  to  distinguish 
between  the  productions  of  the  various  factories. 

Press  Notices,  First  Edition. 

“A  handsome  handbook  that  the  amateur  in  doubt  will  find  useful,  and  the 
china-lover  will  enjoy  for  its  illustrations,  and  for  the  author’s  obvious  love  and 
understanding  of  his  subject.” — St.  fanics's  Gazette. 

‘‘All  lovers  of  china  will  find  much  entertainment  in  this  volume.” — Daily  News. 

“ It  gives  in  a few  pithy  chapters  just  what  the  beginner  wants  to  know  about 
the  principal  varieties  of  English  ware.  We  can  warmly  commend  the  book  to  the 
china  collector.” — Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

“ One  of  the  best  points  about  the  book  is  the  clearway  in  which  the  characteris- 
tics of  each  factory  are  noted  down  separately,  so  that  the  veriest  tyro  ought  to  be 
able  to  judge  for  himself  if  he  has  a piece  or  pieces  which  would  come  under  this 
heading,  and  the  marks  are  very  accurately  given.”— jjz/rrn. 


CHATS  ON  OLD  PRINTS 

BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 

Second  Impression.  Price  5s.  net. 

With  a Coloured  Frontispiece  and  no  Illustrations,  a Table  of  Engravers,  a 
Bibliography,  a Glossary,  and  a Full  Index. 

“ Mr.  Hayden  writes  at  once  with  enthusiasm  and  discrimination  on  his  theme.” — 
Daily  Telegraph. 

‘‘Any  one  who,  having  an  initial  interest  in  matters  of  art,  wants  to  form  sound 
and  intelligent  opinions  about  engravings,  will  find  this  book  the  very  thing  for 
him.” — Literary  World. 

“These  ‘ Chats’  comprise  a full  and  admirably  lucid  description  of  every  branch 
of  the  engraver’s  art,  with  copious  and  suggestive  illustrations.” — Morning  Leader. 


London  : T.  FISHER  UNWIN,  Adelphi  Terrace. 


Chats  on 

Old  Furniture 

A Practical  Guide  for 

Collectors 

r>y 

1 Arthur  Hayden 

Author  of 

* “Chats  on  English  China” 

NEW  YORK  : FREDERICK  A.  STOKES 
COMPANY  PUBLISHERS  MCMVI 


3 

Portion  of  Carved  tPain-ut  Virginal. 


< 


PREFACE 


This  volume  has  been  written  to  enable  those  who 
have  a taste  for  the  furniture  of  a bygone  day  to 
arrive  at  some  conclusion  as  to  the  essential  points  of 
the  various  styles  made  in  England. 

An  attempt  has  been  made  to  give  some  lucid 
historical  account  of  the  progress  and  development 
in  the  art  of  making  domestic  furniture,  with  especial 
reference  to  its  evolution  in  this  country. 

Inasmuch  as  many  of  the  finest  specimens  of  old 
English  woodwork  and  furniture  have  left  the  country 
of  their  origin  and  crossed  the  Atlantic,  it  is  time 
that  the  public  should  awaken  to  the  fact  that  the 

7 


8 PREFACE 

heritages  of  their  forefathers  are  objects  of  envy  to 
all  lovers  of  art.  It  is  a painful  reflection  to  know 
that  the  temptation  of  money  will  shortly  denude  the 
old  farmhouses  and  manor  houses  of  England  of 
their  unappreciated  treasures.  Before  the  hand  of 
the  despoiler  shall  have  snatched  everything  within 
reach,  it  is  the  hope  of  the  writer  that  this  little 
volume  may  not  fall  on  stony  ground,  and  that  the 
possessors  of  fine  old  English  furniture  may  realise 
their  responsibilities. 

It  has  been  thought  advisable  to  touch  upon 
French  furniture  as  exemplified  in  the  national 
collections  of  such  importance  as  the  Jones  Bequest 
at  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum,  and  the  Wallace 
Collection,  to  show  the  influence  of  foreign  art  upon 
our  own  designers.  Similarly,  Italian,  Spanish,  and 
Dutch  furniture,  of  which  many  remarkable  ex- 
amples are  in  private  collections  in  this  country, 
has  been  dealt  with  in  passing,  to  enable  the 
reader  to  estimate  the  relation  of  English  art  to 
contemporary  foreign  schools  of  decoration  and 
design. 

The  authorities  of  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum 
have  willingly  extended  their  assistance  in  regard  to 
photographs,  and  by  the  special  permission  of  the 


PREFACE  9 

Board  of  Education  the  frontispiece  and  other  repre- 
sentative examples  in  the  national  collection  appear 
as  illustrations  to  this  volume. 

I have  to  acknowledge  generous  assistance  and 
courteous  permission  from  owners  of  fine  specimens 
in  allowing  me  facilities  for  reproducing  illustrations 
of  them  in  this  volume. 

I am  especially  indebted  to  the  Right  Honourable 
Sir  Spencer  Ponsonby-Fane,  G.C.B.,  I.S.O.,  and  to 
the  Rev.  Canon  Haig  Brown,  Master  of  the 
Charterhouse,  for  the  inclusion  of  illustrations  of 
^ furniture  of  exceptional  interest. 

The  proprietors  of  the  Connoisseur  have  generously 
furnished  me  with  lists  of  prices  obtained  at  auction 
from  their  useful  monthly  publication.  Auction  Sale 
Prices^  and  have  allowed  the  reproduction  of  illus- 
trations which  have  appeared  in  the  pages  of  the 
Connoisseur. 

My  thanks  are  due  to  Messrs.  Hampton,  of  Pall 
Mall,  for  their  kind  permission  to  include  as  illustra- 
tions several  fine  pieces  from  their  collection  of 
antique  furniture.  I am  under  a similar  obligation 
to  Messrs.  Waring,  who  have  kindly  allowed  me  to 
select  some  of  their  typical  examples. 

To  my  other  friends,  without  whose  kind  advice 


10  PREFACE 

and  valuable  aid  this  volume  could  never  have 
appeared,  I tender  a grateful  and  appreciative 
acknowledgment  of  my  indebtedness. 

ARTHUR  HAYDEN. 


CROMWELLIAN  CHAIR. 

Carved  oak  legs  and  stretcher.  Leather  seat  and  back. 


Spanish  Chesc. 


CONTENTS 


PREFACE 

LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 
BIBLIOGRAPHY  . 

GLOSSARY  OF  TERMS  USED 


PAGE 

7 

13 

19 

23 


CHAPTER 

I.  THE  RENAISSANCE  ON  THE  CONTINENT.  . 3 1 

II.  THE  ENGLISH  RENAISSANCE  . . 57 

III.  STUART  OR  JACOBEAN  (SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY)  79 

IV.  STUART  OR  JACOBEAN  (lATE  SEVENTEENTH 

century)  . . . . .109 

V.  QUEEN  ANNE  STYLE  . . . 133 

VI.  FRENCH  FURNITURE.  THE  PERIOD  OF  LOUIS  XIV.  1 55 

II 


12 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

VII.  FRENCH  FURNITURE.  THE  PERIOD  OF  LOUIS  XV. 
VIH.  FRENCH  FURNITURE.  THE  PERIOD  OF  LOUIS  XVI. 

IX.  FRENCH  FURNITURE.  THE  FIRST  EMPIRE  STYLE 

X.  CHIPPENDALE  AND  HIS  STYLE 

XL  SHERATON,  ADAM,  AND  HEPPELWHITE  STYLES  . 
XII.  HINTS  TO  COLLECTORS 

INDEX  ....... 


PAGE 

169 
189 
201 
21  T 

239 

257 

275 


ChippeyidaU  Bureau  Bookct 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Jacobean  Oak  Cabinet  ; decorated  with  mother-of-pearl, 
ebony,  and  ivory.  Dated  1653.  (By  permission  of  the 
Board  of  Education)  ....  Frontispiece 

Carved  Wood  Frame  ; decorated  with  gold  stucco.  Sixteenth 

Century.  Italian  .....  Title  page 
Cromwellian  Chair  ....  Preface,  p.  10 

Chapter  I. — The  Renaissance  on  the  Continent. 

Page 

Portion  of  Carved  Cornice,  Italian,  Sixteenth 
Century . . . . . . .33 

Frame  of  Wood,  with  female  terminal  figures,  Italian, 
late  Sixteenth  Century  . . . -35 

Front  of  Coffer,  Italian,  late  Fifteenth  Century  . 38 

Bridal  Chest,  Gothic  design,  middle  of  Fifteenth 

Century  . . . . . -39 

Front  of  Oak  Chest,  French,  Fifteenth  Century  . 44 
Walnut  Sideboard,  French,  middle  of  Sixteenth 
Century  . . . . . . -45 

Cabinet,  French  (Lyons),  second  half  of  Sixteenth 
Century  ...  . . 48 


14  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Chapter  I. — The  Renaissance  on  the  Continent  (continued). 

PAGE 

Ebony  and  Ivory  Marquetry  Cabinet,  French, 
middle  of  Sixteenth  Century  . . -50 

Spanish  Cabinet  and  Stand,  carved  chestnut,  first 
half  of  Sixteenth  Century  . . .51 

Spanish  Chest,  carved  walnut.  Sixteenth  Century  . 52 

Chapter  II. — The  English  Renaissance. 

Carved  Oak  Chest,  English,  Sixteenth  Century  . 59 
Bench  of  Oak,  French,  about  1500  . . .60 

Portion  of  Carved  Walnut  Virginal,  Flemish,  Six- 
teenth Century  . . . . .61 

Carved  Oak  Coffer,  French,  showing  interlaced 
ribbon-work  . . . . . .61 

Fireplace  and  Oak  Panelling,  “Old  Palace,”  Bromley- 
by-Bow.  Built  in  1606  . , . .64 

Elizabethan  Bedstead,  dated  1593  . . .66 

Panel  of  Carved  Oak,  English,  early  Sixteenth 
Century  . . . . . . 68 

Mirror,  in  oak  frame,  English,  dated  1603  . . 71 

Court  Cupboard,  carved  oak,  English,  dated  1603  . 73 

„ „ carved  oak,  eaidy  Seventeenth  Cen- 
tury . . . .74 

„ ,,  about  1580  . , -75 

Elizabethan  Oak  Table  . . . .78 

Chapter  III.— Stuart  or  Jacobean.  Seventeenth  Century. 

Gate-leg  Table  . . . . .81 

Oak  Chair,  made  from  Sir  Francis  Drake’s  ship,  the 
Golden  Hind  . . . . . -83 

Oak  Table,  dated  1616,  bearing  arms  of  Thomas 
Sutton  . .....  85 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  15 

Chapter  III.— Stuart  or  Jacobean.  Seventeenth  Century 
{continued). 

PAGE 

Chair  used  by  James  I.  . . . . .87 

Jacobean  Chair,  at  Knole  . . . .89 

Jacobean  Stool,  at  Knole  . . . .90 

Carved  Walnut  Door  (upper  half),  French,  show- 
ing ribbon-work  . . . . . -91 

Oak  Chair,  with  arms  of  first  Earl  of  Strafford  . -93 

Italian  Chair,  about  1620  . .94 

High-back  Oak  Chair,  Early  Jacobean,  formerly  in 
possession  of  Charles  I.  . . -95 

Jacobean  Chairs,  various  types  . . .97 

Ebony  Cabinet,  formerly  the  property  of  Oliver 
Cromwell  . . . . . -99 

Jacobean  Carved  Oak  Chairs,  Yorkshire  and  Derby- 
shire types  ......  loi 

Jacobean  Oak  Cupboard,  about  1620  . . . loi 

Jacobean  Oak  Chairs  .....  105 

Carved  Oak  Cradle,  time  of  Charles  I.,  dated  1641  . 107 


Chapter  IV.~Stuart  or  Jacobean.  Late  Seventeenth 
Century. 

Interior  of  Dutch  House,  latter  half  of  Seventeenth 
Century  . . . . . .111 

Cabinet  of  time  of  Charles  II.,  showing  exterior  . 112 
„ „ „ showing  interior  . 113 

Portuguese  High-back  Chair  . . . .115 

Oak  Chest  of  Drawers,  late  Jacobean  . . .117 

» „ . 119 

Charles  II.  Oak  Chair  .....  120 
Charles  II.  Open  High-back  Oak  Chair  . . 121 

Charles  II.  Chair,  cane  back  and  seat  . . . 122 


16  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Chapter  IV.— Stuart  or  Jacobean.  Late  Seventeenth 
Century  [continued). 

PAGE 

James  II.  Chair,  cane  back  and  seat  . . . 123 

William  and  Mary  Chair  . . . .125 

Portuguese  Chair-back  (upper  portion),  cut  leather 

work  .......  128 

Chapter  V. — Queen  Anne  Style. 

Queen  Anne  Chair  . , . . .133 

Queen  Anne  Oak  Settle  . . . .135 

Queen  Anne  Mirror  Frame,  carved  walnut,  gilded  . 137 
Oak  Desk,  dated  1696  . . . . .139 

Oak  Cupboard  . . . . . .140 

Queen  Anne  Cabinet,  burr-walnut  panel  . . 141 

Queen  Anne  Chairs,  various  types  . . .143 

Dutch  Marquetry  Cabinet  ....  147 

Queen  Anne  Clock  .....  148 

Queen  Anne  Settle,  oak,  dated  1705  . . . 149 

Old  Lac  Cabinet  ......  150 

Lac  Cabinet,  middle  of  Eighteenth  Century  . . 151 

,,  „ showing  doors  closed  . . .152 

„ „ chased  brass  escutcheon  , . . 154 

Chapter  VI. — French  Furniture.  The  Period  of 
Louis  XIV. 

Cassette,  French,  Seventeenth  Century  . . . 157 

Chair  of  Period  of  Louis  XIII.  . . .159 

Pedestals,  showing  boule  and  counter-boule  work  . 163 
Boule  Cabinet,  or  Armoire  . . . .165 

Chapter  VII.— French  Furniture.  Louis  XV. 

Commode,  by  Cressent  . . . • . 171 

Commode,  formerly  in  the  Hamilton  Collection  . . 173 


yP  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  17 

Chapter  VII. — French  Furniture.  Louis  XV.  {continued). 

PAGE 

Commode,  by  Caffieri  .....  175 

Escritoire  a Toilette,  formerly  in  possession  of 
Marie  Antoinette  .....  179 

Secretaire,  by  Riesener  . . . . .181 

“Bureau  du  Roi,”  the  masterpiece  of  Riesener  . 183 


Chapter  VIII.— French  Furniture.  Louis  XVI. 

Jewel  Cabinet,  “ J.  H.  Riesener,”  Mounts  by  Gouthiere  193 


Commode,  by  Riesener  .....  197 

Chapter  IX. — French  Furniture.  The  First  Empire. 

Empire  Chair  . . . . . .201 

Portrait  of  Madame  Recamier,  after  David  . . 203 

Detail  of  Tripod  Table  found  at  Pompeii  . . 20s 

Servante,  French,  late  Eighteenth  Century  . . 206 

Jewel  Cabinet  of  the  Empress  Marie  Louise  . 207 
Armchair,  rosewood,  showing  Empire  influence  . 210 


Chapter  X. — Chippendale  and  his  Style. 


Table  made  by  Chippendale  ....  213 

Oliver  Goldsmith’s  Chair  . . . .215 

Chippendale  Settee,  walnut,  about  1740  . . 217 

„ ,,  oak,  about  1740  . . .219 

Chippendale  Chair-back,  ribbon  pattern  . . 222 

Ribbon-backed  Chippendale  Chair,  formerly  at 
Blenheim  ......  223 

Chippendale  Corner  Chair,  about  1780  . . 224 

Gothic  Chippendale  Chair-back  . . . 225 

Mahogany  Chippendale  Chair,  about  1740  . 226 

„ „ „ about  1770  . . 227 


2 


18  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Chapter  X.— Chippendale  and  his  Style  (coii-tiiineci). 

PAGE 

Chippendale  Mirror  .....  229 
Chippendale  Bureau  Bookcase  . . . 231 

Mahogany  Chair,  Chippendale  Style  . . . 232 

Cottage  Chairs,  beechwood,  Chippendale  style  . 233 
Interior  of  Room  of  about  1782,  after  Stothard  . 235 

Chapter  XL — Sheraton,  Adam,  and  Heppelwhite  Styles. 

Heppelwhite  Settee,  mahogany  . . . 241 

Sheraton,  Adam,  and  Heppelwhite  Chairs  . . 243 

Old  English  Secretaire  ....  250 
Shieli-back  Chair,  late  Eighteenth  Century  . . 251 

Chapter  XII. — Hints  to  Collectors. 

Design  for  Spurious  Marquetry  Work  , . 259 

“Made-up”  Buffet  . . . . .261 

Cabinet  of  Old  Oak,  “ made-up  ”...  267 
Design  for  Spurious  Marquetry  Work  . . 273 

Piece  of  Spanish  Chestnut,  showing  ravages  of 
worms  .......  274 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


GENERAL. 

Ancient  Furniture,  Specimens  of.  H.  Shaw.  Quaritch.  1836. 
£10  los.,  now  worth  £'^  3s. 

Ancient  and  Modern  Furniture.  B.  J.  Talbert.  Batsford.  1876, 
32s. 

Antique  Furniture,  Sketches  of.  W.  S.  Ogden.  Batsford.  1889. 

I2S.  6d. 

Carved  Furniture  and  Woodwork.  M.  Marshall.  W,  H.  Allen 
1888.  £2,. 

Carved  Oak  in  Woodwork  and  Furniture  from  Ancient  Houses. 
W.  B.  Sanders.  1883.  31s.  6d. 

Decorative  Furniture,  English  and  French,  of  the  Sixteenth, 
Seventeenth  and  Eighteenth  Centuries.  W.  H.  Hacked. 
7s.  6d. 

Ecclesiastical  Woodwork,  Remains  of.  T.  T.  Bury.  Lockwood. 
1847.  21S. 

French  and  English  Furniture.  E.  Singleton.  Hodder.  1904. 
Furniture,  Ancient  and  Modern.  J.  W.  Small.  Batsford.  1883. 
21S. 

Furniture  and  Decoration.  J.  A.  Heaton.  1890-92. 

Furniture  and  Woodwork,  Ancient  and  Modern.  J.  H.  Pollen. 

Chapman.  1874-5.  21s.  and  2s.  6d. 

Furniture  and  Woodwork.  J.H.  Pollen.  Stanford.  1876.  3s.  6d. 

Furniture  of  the  Olden  Time,  F.  C.  Morse.  Macmillan.  12s.  6d. 
Gothic  Furniture,  Connoisseur.  May,  1903. 

History  of  Furniture  Illustrated.  F.  Litchfield.  Truslove.  25s. 
Marquetry,  Parquetery,  Boulle  and  other  Inlay  Work.  W.  Bemrose. 
1872  and  1882. 

Old  Furniture,  English  and  Foreign.  A.  E.  Chancellor.  Batsford. 

5s. 


19 


20  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Old  Furniture  from  Twelfth  to  Eighteenth  Century,  Wyman.  1883. 
los.  6d. 

Style  in  Furniture  and  Woodwork.  R.  Brook,  Privately  printed. 
1889.  21S. 


PARTICULAR. 

ENGLISH. — Adam  R.  & J.,  The  Architecture,  Decoration  and 
Furniture  of  R.  & J.  Adam,  selected  from  works  published 
1778-1822.  London.  1880. 

Adam,  The  Brothers.  Connoisseur.  May,  June  and  August,  1904. 
Ancient  Wood  and  Iron  Work  in  Cambridge.  W.  B,  Redfern. 
Spalding.  1887.  31s.  6d. 

Chippendale,  T.  Cabinet  Makers’  Directory.  Published  in  1754, 
1755  and  1762.  (The  best  edition  is  the  last  as  it  contains  200 
plates  as  against  161  in  the  earlier  editions.  Its  value  is  about 

Chippendale  and  His  Work.  Connoisseur,  January,  July,  August, 
September,  October,  November,  December,  1903,  January,  1904. 
Chippendale,  Sheraton  and  Heppelwhite,  The  Designs  of. 

Arranged  by  J.  M.  Bell.  1900.  Worth  £2  2S. 

Chippendale’s  Contemporaries.  Connoisseur,  March,  1904. 
Chippendale  and  Sheraton.  Connoisseur,  May,  1902. 

Coffers  and  Cupboards,  Ancient,  Fred  Roe.  Methuen  & Co. 

1903-  £?>  3s. 

English  Furniture,  History  of.  Percy  Macquoid,  Published  by 
Lawrence  & Bullen  in  7s.  6d,  parts,  the  first  of  which 
appeared  in  November,  1904, 

English  Furniture  and  Woodwork  during  the  Eighteenth  Century, 
T.  A.  Strange.  12s.  6d. 

Furniture  of  our  Forefathers.  E.  Singleton.  Batsford.  £2,  15s. 
Hatfield  House,  History  of.  Q F.  Robinson.  1883. 

Hardwicke  Hall,  History  of.  Q.  F,  Robinson.  1835. 

Heppelwhite,  A.,  Cabinet  Maker.  Published  1788,  1789,  and  1794, 
and  contains  about  130  plates.  Value  £^  to  £12.  Reprint 
issued  in  1897.  Worth  £2  los. 

Ince  and  Mayhew.  Household  Furniture.  N.d.  (1770).  Worth 
£20. 

Jacobean  Furniture.  Connoisseur,  September,  1902. 

Knole  House,  Its  State  Rooms,  &c.  (Elizabethan  and  other  Furni- 
ture.) S.  J.  Mackie,  1858. 

Manwaring,  R,,  Cabinet  and  Chairmaker’s  Real  Friend.  London. 

1765. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


21 


Mansions  of  England  in  the  Olden  Time.  J.  Nash.  1839-49. 

Old  English  Houses  and  Furniture.  M.  B.  Adam.  Batsford. 
1889.  25s. 

Old  English  Oak  Furniture.  J.  W.  Hurrell.  Batsford.  £2  2s. 

Old  English  Furniture.  Frederick  Fenn  and  B.  Wyllie.  Newnes. 
7s.  6d.  net. 

Old  Oak,  The  Art  of  Collecting.  Connoisseur^  September,  1901. 
Sheraton,  T.  Cabinet  Maker’s  Drawing  Book.  1791-3  edition 
contains  iii  plates.  Value  £1^.  1794  edition  contains  119 

plates.  Value  ;^io. 

Sheraton  T.  Cabinet  Directory.  1803. 

Staircases  and  Handrails  of  the  Age  of  Elizabeth.  J.  Weale.  i860. 
Upholsterer’s  Repository.  Ackermann.  N.d.  Worth  £^. 
FRENCH. — Dictionnaire  de  V Amenhlement.  H.  Havard.  Paris. 

N.d.  Worth  ;^5. 

Dictionnaire  Raisonne.  M.  Viollet-le-Duc.  1858-75.  6 vols. 

Worth  ;^io. 

French  Furniture.  Lady  Dilke.  Bell.  1901. 

French  Eighteenth  Century  Furniture,  Handbook  to  the.  Jones 
Collection  Catalogue.  1881. 

French  Eighteenth  Century  Furniture,  Handbook  to  the.  Wallace 
Collection  Catalogue.  1904. 

History  of  Furniture.  A.  Jacquemart.  Chapman.  1878.  31s.  6d. 

Issued  in  Paris  in  1876,  under  the  title  Histoire  du  Mobilier. 

Le  Meuble  en  France  an  XVI  Siecle.  E.  Bonnaffe.  Paris.  1887. 
Worth  los. 

JAPANESE. — Lacquer  Industry  of  Japan.  Report  of  Her  Majesty’s 
Acting-Consul  at  Hakodate.  J.  J.  Quin.  Parliamentary  Paper. 
8vo.  London.  1882. 

SCOTTISH. — Scottish  Woodwork  of  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth 
Centuries.  J.  W.  Small.  Waterston.  1878.  £4. 4s. 

SPANISH. — Spanish  and  Portuguese.  Catalogue  of  Special  Loan 
Exhibition  of  Spanish  and  Portuguese  Ornamental  Art.  1881. 


- A,  ? • 


<L 


GLOSSARY  OF  TERMS  USED 


A r moire. — A large  cupboard  of  French  design  of  the 
dimensions  of  the  modern  wardrobe.  In  the 
days  of  Louis  XIV.  these  pieces  were  made  in 
magnificent  style.  The  Jones  Collection  at  the 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  has  several  fine 
examples.  (See  illustration,  p.  165.) 

Baroque. — Used  in  connection  with  over  ornate  and 
incongruous  decoration  as  in  rococo  style. 

BombL — A term  applied  to  pieces  of  furniture  which 
swell  out  at  the  sides. 

Boule. — A special  form  of  marquetry  of  brass  and 
tortoiseshell  perfected  by  Andre  Charles  Boule 
in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  (See  Chapter  VI., 
where  specimens  of  this  kind  of  work  are 
illustrated.)  The  name  has  been  corrupted  into 
a trade  term  Buhl,  to  denote  this  style  of 
marquetry.  Boule  or  Premiere  partie  is  a metal 
inlay,  usually  brass,  applied  to  a tortoiseshell 
background.  See  also  Counter-boule. 

23 


24  GLOSSARY  OF  TERMS  USED 

Bureau. — A cabinet  with  drawers,  and  having  a drop- 
down front  for  use  as  a writing-table.  Bureaux 
are  of  many  forms.  (See  illustration,  p.  231.) 

Cabriole. — -Used  in  connection  with  the  legs  of  tables 
and  chairs  which  are  curved  in  form,  having  a 
sudden  arch  outwards  from  the  seat.  (See 
illustration,  p.  143.) 

Caryatides. — Carved  female  figures  applied  to  columns 
in  Greek  architecture,  as  at  the  Erectheum  at 
Athens.  They  were  employed  by  woodcarvers, 
and  largely  introduced  into  Renaissance  furni- 
ture of  an  architectural  character.  Elizabethan 
craftsmen  were  especially  fond  of  their  use  as 
terminals,  and  in  the  florid  decoration  of  elabo- 
rate furniture. 

Cassone. — An  Italian  marriage  coffer.  In  Chapter  I. 
will  be  found  a full  description  of  these  cassojti. 

Commode. — A chest  of  drawers  of  French  style.  In 
the  chapters  dealing  with  the  styles  of  Louis 
XIV.,  Louis  XV.,  and  Louis  XVI.,  these  are 
fully  described  and  illustrations  are  given. 

Coimter-Boide.  Centre  par  tie.  — See  Chapter  VI., 
where  specimens  of  this  work  are  illustrated.  It 
consists  of  a brass  groundwork  with  tortoise- 
shell inlay. 

FreneJi  Polish. — A cheap  and  nasty  method  used 
since  1851  to  varnish  poor-looking  wood  to 
disguise  its  inferiority.  It  is  quicker  than  the 
old  method  of  rubbing  in  oil  and  turpentine  and 


GLOSSARY  OF  TERMS  USED 


25 


beeswax.  It  is  composed  of  shellac  dissolved 
in  methylated  spirits  with  colouring  matter 
added. 

Gate-leg  table. — This  term  is  self-explanatory.  The 
legs  of  this  class  of  table  open  like  a gate.  They 
belong  to  Jacobean  days,  and  are  sometimes 
spoken  of  as  Cromwellian  tables.  An  illustra- 
tion of  one  appears  on  the  cover. 

Gothic. — This  term  was  originally  applied  to  the 
mediaeval  styles  of  architecture.  It  was  used  as 

, a term  of  reproach  and  contempt  at  a time  when 
it  was  the  fashion  to  write  Latin  and  to  expect 
it  to  become  the  universal  language.  In  wood- 
carving the  Gothic  style  followed  the  architec- 
ture. A fine  example  of  the  transition  between 
Gothic  and  the  oncoming  Renaissance  is  given 

(p.  44). 

Inlay. — K term  used  for  the  practice  of  decorating 
surfaces  and  panels  of  furniture  with  wood  of 
various  colours,  mother-of-pearl,  or  ivory.  The 
inlay  is  let  into  the  wood  of  which  the  piece 
inlaid  is  composed. 

J acobean.—^XxiQ.'^y  speaking,  only  furniture  of  the 
days  of  James  1.  should  be  termed  Jacobean. 
But  by  some  collectors  the  period  is  held  to 
extend  to  James  I L— -that  is  from  1603  to  1688. 
Other  collectors  prefer  the  term  Carolean  for  a 
portion  of  the  above  period,  which  is  equally 
misleading.  Jacobean  is  only  a rough  generali- 
sation of  seventeenth-century  furniture. 


26  GLOSSARY  OF  TERMS  USED 

Lacquer.  Lac. — A transparent  varnish  used  in  its 
perfection  by  the  Chinese  and  Japanese.  (See 
“Consular  Report  on  Japanese  Lacquered  Work,” 
in  Bibliography.)  Introduced  into  Holland 
and  France,  it  was  imitated  with  great  success. 
Under  Louis  XV.  Vernis-Martin  became  the 
rage  {q.v:). 

Linen  Pattern. — A form  of  carving  panels  to  represent 
a folded  napkin.  This  particular  design  was 
largely  used  in  France  and  Germany  prior  to  its 
adoption  here.  (See  illustration,  p.  6o.) 

Marquetry. — Inlays  of  coloured  woods,  arranged  with 
some  design,  geometric,  floral,  or  otherwise,  are 
classed  under  this  style.  (See  also  Parquetryi) 

Mortise. — A term  in  carpentry  used  to  denote  the 
hole  made  in  a piece  of  wood  to  receive  the  end 
of  another  piece  to  be  joined  to  it.  The  portion 
which  fits  into  the  mortise  is  called  the  tenon. 

Oil  Polish. — Old  furniture,  before  the  introduction  of 
varnishes  and  French  polish  and  other  inartistic 
effects,  was  polished  by  rubbing  the  surface  with 
a stone,  if  it  was  a large  area  as  in  the  case  of  a 
table,  and  then  applying  linseed  oil  and  polishing 
with  beeswax  and  turpentine.  The  fine  tone 
after  centuries  of  this  treatment  is  evident  in  old 
pieces  which  have  a metallic  lustre  that  cannot 
be  imitated. 

Parquetry. — Inlays  of  woods  of  the  same  colour  are 
termed  parquetry  work  in  contradistinction  to 
marquetry,  which  is  in  different  colour.  Geo- 


GLOSSARY  OF  TERMS  USED  27 

metric  designs  are  mainly  used  as  in  parquetry 
floors. 

Reeded. — This  term  is  applied  to  the  style  of  decora- 
tion by  which  thin  narrow  strips  of  wood  are 
placed  side  by  side  on  the  surface  of  furniture. 

Renaissance. — The  style  which  was  originated  in  Italy 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  supplanting  the  Mediaeval 
styles  which  embraced  Byzantine  and  Gothic 
art ; the  new-birth  was  in  origin  a literary  move- 
ment, but  quickly  affected  art,  and  grew  with 
surprising  rapidity,  and  affected  every  country  in 
Europe.  It  is  based  on  Classic  types,  and  its 
influence  on  furniture  and  woodwork  followed  its 
adoption  in  architecture. 

Restored. — This  word  is  the  fly  in  the  pot  of  ointment 
to  all  who  possess  antiquarian  tastes.  It  ought 
to  mean,  in  furniture,  that  only  the  most  neces- 
sary repairs  have  been  made  in  order  to  preserve 
the  object.  It  more  often  means  that  a con- 
siderable amount  of  misapplied  ingenuity  has 
gone  to  the  remaking  of  a badly-preserved 
specimen.  Restorations  are  only  permissible 
at  the  hands  of  most  conscientious  craftsmen. 

Rococo. — A style  which  was  most  markedly  offensive 
in  the  time  of  Louis  XV.  Meaningless  elabora- 
tions of  scroll  and  shell  work,  with  rocky  back- 
grounds and  incongruous  ornamentations,  are  its 
chief  features.  Baroque  is  another  term  applied 
to  this  overloaded  style. 

Settee. — An  upholstered  form  of  the  settle. 


28  GLOSSARY  OF  TERMS  USED 

Settle. — A wooden  seat  with  back  and  arms,  capable 
of  seating  three  or  four  persons  side  by  side. 

Splat. — The  wooden  portion  in  the  back  of  a chair 
connecting  the  top  rail  with  the  seat. 

Strapwork. — This  is  applied  to  the  form  of  decoration 
employed  by  the  Elizabethan  woodcarvers  in 
imitation  of  Flemish  originals.  (See  p.  68.) 

St7'etcher. — The  rail  which  connects  the  legs  of  a 
chair  or  a table  with  one  another.  In  earlier 
forms  it  was  used  as  a footrest  to  keep  the  feet 
from  the  damp  or  draughty  rush  floor. 

Teuton. — “ Mortise  and  Tenon  joint.”  (See  Mortise.) 

Turned  Work.  — The  spiral  rails  and  uprights  of 
chairs  were  turned  with  the  lathe  in  Jacobean 
days.  Prior  to  the  introduction  of  the  lathe  all 
work  was  carved  without  the  use  of  this  tool. 
Pieces  of  furniture  have  been  found  where  the 
maker  has  carved  the  turned  work  in  all  its 
details  of  form,  either  from  caprice  or  from 
ignorance  of  the  existence  of  the  quicker  method. 

Veneer. — A method  of  using  thin  layers  of  wood  and 
laying  them  on  a piece  of  furniture,  either  as 
marquetry  in  different  colours,  or  in  one  wood 
only.  It  was  an  invention  in  order  to  employ 
finer  specimens  of  wood  carefully  selected  in  the 
parts  of  a piece  of  furniture  most  noticeable.  It 
has  been  since  used  to  hide  inferior  wood. 

Vernis-Martin  (Martin’s  Varnish). — The  lacquered 
work  of  a French  carriage-painter  named  Martin, 


GLOSSARY  OF  TERMS  USED  29 

who  claimed  to  have  discovered  the  secret  of  the 
Japanese  lac,  and  who,  in  1774,  was  granted  a 
monopoly  for  its  use.  He  applied  it  successfully 
to  all  kinds  of  furniture,  and  to  fan-guards  and 
sticks.  In  the  days  of  Madame  du  Pompadour 
Vernis-Martin  had  a great  vogue,  and  panels 
prepared  by  Martin  were  elaborately  painted 
upon  by  Lancret  and  Boucher.  To  this  day 
his  varnish  retains  its  lustre  undimmed,  and 
specimens  command  high  prices. 

Woods  used  in  Furniture. 

High-class  Work.  — Brazil  wood,  Coromandel, 
Mahogany,  Maple,  Oak  (various  kinds), 
Olive,  Rosewood,  Satinwood,  Sandalwood, 
Sweet  Cedar,  Sweet  Chestnut,  Teak,  Walnut. 

Commoner  Work. — Ash,  Beech,  Birch,  Cedars 
(various).  Deals,  Mahogany  (various  kinds). 
Pine,  Walnut. 

Marquetry  and  Veneers.  — Selected  specimens 
for  fine  figuring  are  used  as  veneers,  and  for 
marquetry  of  various  colours  the  following 
are  used  as  being  more  easily  stained : 
Holly,  Horsechestnut,  Sycamore,  Pear, 
Plum  Tree. 

Woods  with  Fancy  Names. 

King  Wood,  Partridge  Wood,  Pheasant 
Wood,  Purple  Wood,  Snakewood,  Tulip 
Wood. 

These  are  more  rare  and  finely-marked  foreign 
woods  used  sparingly  in  the  most  expensive  furni- 


30  GLOSSARY  OF  TERMS  USED 

ture.  To  arrive  at  the  botanical  names  of  these  is 
not  an  easy  matter.  To  those  interested  a list  of 
woods  used  by  cabinet-makers  with  their  botanical 
names  is  given  in  Mr.  J.  Hungerford  Pollen’s 
“ Introduction  to  the  South  Kensington  Collection 
of  Furniture.”  At  the  Museum  at  Kew  Gardens  and 
in  the  Imperial  Institute  are  collections  of  rare  woods 
worth  examination. 


I 


THE  RENAISSANCE 
ON  THE 
CONTINENT 


Portion  of  carved  cornice  of  pinewood,  from  the  Palazzo  Bensi  Ceccini,  Venice 
Italian  ; middle  of  sixteenth  century. 

{Vtctona  and  Albeit  JMiiseiini.) 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


THE  RENAISSANCE 

Italy.  Flight  of  Greek  scholars 
to  Italy  upon  capture  of 
Constantinople  by  the  Turks 
—1453- 

Rediscovery  of  Greek  art. 
Florence  the  centre  of  the 
Renaissance. 

Leo  X.,  Pope  (1475-1521). 
Leonardo  da  Vinci  (1452- 
1520).  Raphael  (1483-1520). 
Michael  Angelo  (1474- 

1564)- 

In  attempting  to  deal 
furniture  in  a manner  i 
broad  divisions  have  to 


DN  THE  CONTINENT 

France.  Francis  I.  (1515-1547). 

Henry  IV.  (1589-1610). 
Spain.  The  crown  united  under 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
(1452-1516). 

Granada  taken  from  the 
Moors — 1492. 

Charles  V.  (i5i9-i555)- 
Philip  H.  (1555-1598). 
Germany.  Maximilian  I.,  Em- 
peror of  Germany  (1459- 

1519). 

Holbein  (1498-1543). 

with  the  subject  of  old 
ot  too  technical,  certain 
be  made  for  convenience 


33 


34 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


in  classification.  The  general  reader  does  not  want 
information  concerning  the  iron  bed  of  Og,  King 
of  Bashan,  nor  of  Cicero’s  table  of  citrus-wood, 
which  cost  £g,ooo  ; nor  are  details  of  the  chair  of 
Dagobert  and  of  the  jewel-chest  of  Richard  of 
Cornwall  of  much  worth  to  the  modern  collector. 

It  will  be  found  convenient  to  eliminate  much 
extraneous  matter,  such  as  the  early  origins  of 
furniture  and  its  development  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  to  commence  in  this  country  with  the 
Tudor  period.  Broadly  speaking,  English  furniture 
falls  under  three  heads— the  Oak  Period,  embracing 
the  furniture  of  the  sixteenth  and  early  seventeenth 
centuries ; the  Walnut  Period,  including  the  late 
seventeenth  and  early  eighteenth  centuries  ; the 
Mahogany  Period,  beginning  with  the  reign  of 
George  III.  It  may  be  observed  that  the  names  of 
kings  and  of  queens  have  been  applied  to  various 
styles  of  furniture  as  belonging  to  their  reign.  Early 
Victorian  is  certainly  a more  expressive  term  than 
early  nineteenth  century.  Cromwellian  tables,  Queen 
Anne  chairs,  or  Louis  Seize  commodes  all  have  an 
especial  meaning  as  referring  to  styles  more  or  less 
prevalent  when  those  personages  lived.  As  there  is 
no  record  of  the  makers  of  most  of  the  old  English 
furniture,  and  as  a piece  of  furniture  cannot  be  judged 
as  can  a picture,  the  date  of  manufacture  cannot  be 
precisely  laid  down,  hence  the  vagueness  of  much  of 
the  classification  of  old  furniture.  Roughly  it  may  in 
England  be  dealt  with  under  the  Tudor,  the  Stuart, 
and  the  Georgian  ages.  These  three  divisions  do 
not  coincide  exactly  with  the  periods  of  oak,  of 


wood, 


Frame  of 


carved  with  floral  scrollwork,  with  female  terminal  figures. 
Italian  ; late  sixteenth  century. 

{Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.) 


-'1 


RENAISSANCE  ON  THE  CONTINENT  37 

walnut,  and  of  mahogany,  inasmuch  as  the  oak 
furniture  extended  well  into  the  Stuart  days,  and 
walnut  was  prevalent  in  the  reigns  of  George  I. 
and  George  II.  In  any  case,  these  broad  divisions 
are  further  divided  into  sub-heads  embracing  styles 
which  arose  out  of  the  natural  development  in  taste, 
or  which  came  and  went  at  the  caprice  of  fashion. 

The  formation  of  a definite  English  character  in 
the  furniture  of  the  three  periods  must  be  examined 
in  conjunction  with  the  prevailing  styles  in  foreign 
furniture  showing  what  influences  were  at  work. 
Many  conditions  governed  the  introduction  of  foreign 
furniture  into  England.  Renaissance  art  made  a 
change  in  architecture,  and  a corresponding  change 
took  place  in  furniture.  Ecclesiastical  buildings 
followed  the  continental  architecture  in  form  and 
design,  and  foreign  workmen  were  employed  by  the 
Church  and  by  the  nobility  in  decorating  and  em- 
bellishing cathedrals  and  abbeys  and  feudal  castles. 
The  early  Tudor  days  under  Henry  VII.  saw  the 
dawn  of  the  Renaissance  in  England.  Jean  de 
Mabuse  and  Torrigiano  were  invited  over  the  sea 
by  Henry  VI  I.,  and  under  the  sturdy  impulse  of 
Henry  VI 1 1,  classical  learning  and  love  of  the  fine 
arts  were  encouraged.  His  palaces  were  furnished 
with  splendour.  He  wished  to  emulate  the  chateau 
of  Francis  at  Fontainebleau.  He  tried  to  entice  the 
French  king’s  artists  with  more  tempting  terms. 
Holbein,  the  great  master  of  the  German  school, 
came  to  England,  and  his  influence  over  Tudor  art 
was  very  pronounced.  The  florid  manner  of  the 
Renaissance  was  tempered  with  the  broader  treat- 


38  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


ment  of  the  northern  school.  The  art,  too,  of  the 

Flemish  woodcarvers 
found  sympathetic 
reception  in  this 
country,  and  the  har- 
monious blending  of 
the  designs  of  the 
Renaissance  crafts- 
men of  the  Italian 
with  those  of  the 
Flemish  school  re- 
sulted in  the  growth 
in  England  of  the 
beautiful  and  charac- 
teristic style  known 
as  Tudor. 

The  term  Renais- 
sance is  used  in  re- 
gard to  that  period 
in  the  history  of  art 
which  marked  the 
return  to  the  classic 
forms  employed  by 
the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans. The  change 
from  the  Gothic  or 
Mediaeval  work  to 
the  classic  feeling 
had  its  origin  in 
Italy,  and  spread,  at 
first  gradually  but  later  with  amazing  rapidity  and 
growing  strength,  into  Germany,  Spain,  the  Nether- 
lands, France,  and  finally  to  England. 


middle  of  fifteenth  century. 
{Mm/c/i  National  Musenm) 


t 


RENAISSANCE  ON  THE  CONTINENT  41 

The  Renaissance  was  in  origin  a literary  move- 
ment, and  its  influence  in  art  came  through  literature. 
The  enthusiasm  of  the  new  learning  acting  on  crafts- 
men already  trained  to  the  highest  degree  of  technical 
skill  produced  work  of  great  brilliance. 

Never  did  the  fine  arts  rise  to  such  transcendent 
heights  as  in  Italy  from  the  fourteenth  to  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  centuries.  The  late  John 
Addington  Symonds,  in  his  work  on  “The  Renaissance 
in  Italy,”  deals  in  a comprehensive  manner  with  this 
memorable  period,  during  which  every  city  in  Italy, 
great  or  small,  was  producing  wonderful  works  of  art, 
in  painting,  in  sculpture,  in  goldsmiths’  work,  in  wood- 
carving, in  furniture,  of  which  now  every  civilised 
country  struggles  to  obtain  for  its  art  collections  the 
scattered  fragments  of  these  great  days.  “ During 
that  period  of  prodigious  activity,”  he  says,  “ the 
entire  nation  seemed  to  be  endowed  with  an  instinct 
for  the  beautiful  and  with  the  capacity  for  producing 
it  in  every  conceivable  form.” 

In  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  the  Re- 
naissance style  in  woodwork  was  at  first  more  evident 
in  the  churches  and  in  the  palaces  of  the  nobility  in 
the  Italian  states.  Some  of  the  most  magnificent 
examples  of  carved  woodwork  are  preserved  in  the 
choir-stalls,  doorways  and  panelling  of  the  churches 
and  cathedrals  of  Italy.  The  great  artists  of  the  day 
gave  their  talents  to  the  production  of  woodwork  and 
furniture  in  various  materials.  Wood  was  chiefly 
employed  in  making  furniture,  usually  oak,  cypress, 
ebony,  walnut,  or  chestnut,  which  last  wood  is  very 
similar  in  appearance  to  oak.  These  were  decorated 


42 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


with  gilding  and  paintings,  and  were  inlaid  with  other 
woods,  or  agate,  lapis-lazuli,  "and  marbles  of  various 
tints,  with  ivory,  tortoiseshell,  mother-of-pearl,  or  with 
ornaments  of  hammered  silver. 

The  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  contains  some 
splendid  examples  of  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  century 
Italian  Renaissance  furniture,  which  illustrate  well 
the  magnificence  and  virility  of  the  great  art  move- 
ment which  influenced  the  remainder  of  Europe.  In 
particular,  carved  and  gilded  frames,  and  marriage 
coffers  {cassoni)  given  to  brides  as  part  of  their 
dowry  to  hold  the  bridal  trousseau,  are  richly  and 
effectively  decorated.  The  frame  of  carved  wood 
(illustrated  p.  35),  with  fine  scroll  work  and  female 
terminal  figures,  is  enriched  with  painting  and 
gilding.  The  frame  on  the  title-page  of  this  volume 
is  of  carved  wood,  decorated  with  gold  stucco.  Both 
these  are  sixteenth-century  Italian  work.  In  fact,  the 
study  of  the  various  types  and  the  different  kinds  of 
ornamentation  given  to  these  cassoni  would  be  an 
interesting  subject  for  the  student,  who  would  find 
enough  material  in  the  collection  at  the  Victoria  and 
Albert  Museum  to  enable  him  to  follow  the  Renais- 
sance movement  from  its  early  days  down  to  the 
time  when  crowded  design,  over-elaboration,  and 
inharmonious  details  grew  apace  like  so  many  weeds 
to  choke  the  ideals  of  the  master  spirits  of  the 
Renaissance. 

The  front^  of  the  late  fifteenth-century  coffer 
(illustrated  p.  38)  is  of  chestnut  wood,  carved  with 
a shield  of  arms  supported  by  two  male  demi-figures, 
terminating  in  floral  scroll  work.  There  are  still 
traces  of  gilding  on  the  wood. 


RENAISSANCE  ON  THE  CONTINENT  43 

At  first  the  lines  followed  architecture  in  character. 
Cabinets  had  pilasters,  columns,  and  arches  resembling 
the  old  Roman  temples.  The  illustration  of  a portion 
of  a cornice  of  carved  pinewood  appearing  as  the 
headpiece  to  this  chapter  shows  this  tendency.  The 
marriage  coffers  had  classic  heads  upon  them,  but 
gradually  this  chaste  style  gave  place  to  rich  orna- 
mentation with  designs  of  griffins  and  grotesque 
masks.  The  chairs,  too,  were  at  first  very  severe  in 
outline,  usually  with  a high  back  and  fitted  with  a 
stretcher  between  the  legs,  which  was  carved,  as  was 
also  the  back  of  the  chair. 

In  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  Gothic  art 
had  attained  its  high-water  mark  in  Germany  before 
the  new  art  from  Italy  had  crossed  the  Alps.  We  re- 
produce a bridal  chest,  of  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  from  the  collection  in  the  Munich  National 
Museum,  which  shows  the  basis  of  Gothic  art  in 
England  prior  to  the  revival  and  before  further  foreign 
influences  were  brought  to  bear  on  English  art  (p.  39). 

The  influence  of  Italian  art  upon  France  soon 
made  itself  felt.  Italian  architects  and  craftsmen 
were  invited  by  Francis  I.  and  by  the  Princesses 
of  the  House  of  Medici,  of  which  Pope  Leo  X. 
was  the  illustrious  head,  to  build  palaces  and 
chateaux  in  the  Renaissance  style.  The  Tuileries, 
Fontainebleau,  and  the  Louvre  were  the  result  of 
this  importation.  Primaticcio  and  Cellini  founded 
a school  of  sculptors  and  wood-carvers  in  France,  of 
which  Jean  Goujon  stands  pre-eminent.  The  furni- 
ture began  gradually  to  depart  from  the  old  Gothic 
traditions,  as  is  shown  in  the  design  of  the  oak  chest 


44 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FU14NITUKE 


of  the  late  fifteenth  century  preserved  in  the  Dublin 
Museum,  which  we  illustrate,  and  commenced  to 
emulate  the  gorgeousness  of  Italy.  This  is  a parti- 
cularly instructive  example,  showing  the  transition 
between  the  Gothic  and  the  Renaissance  styles. 

The  French  Renaissance  sideboard  in  the  illustra- 


FRONT  OF  OAK  CHEST.  FRENCH  ; FIFTEENTH  CENTURY. 
( Dublin  Jlfnseum . ) 


tration  (p.  45)  is  a fine  example  of  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  It  is  carved  in  walnut.  The 
moulded  top  is  supported  in  front  by  an  arcading 
decorated  with  two  male  and  two  female  terminal 
figures,  which  are  enriched  with  masks  and  floral 
ornament  Behind  the  arcading  is  a table  supporting 
a cupboard  and  resting  in  front  on  four  turned 


WALNUT  SIDEBOARD, 

FRENCH  ; MIDDLE  OF  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY 


< 


i 


I 


RENAISSANCE  ON  THE  CONTINENT  47 


columns  ; it  is  fitted  with  three  drawers,  the  fronts  of 
which,  as  well  as  that  of  the  cupboard,  are  decorated 
with  monsters,  grotesque  masks,  and  scroll  work. 

The  impulse  given  by  Francis  I.  was  respon- 
sible for  much  decorative  work  in  the  early  period  of 
the  French  Renaissance,  and  many  beautiful  ex- 
amples exist  in  the  churches  and  ch^eaux  of  France 
to  which  his  name  has  been  given.  It  is  noticeable 
that  the  chief  difference  between  the  Italian  and 
the  French  Renaissance  lies  in  the  foundation  of 
Gothic  influence  underlying  the  newer  Renaissance 
ornament  in  French  work  of  the  period.  Flamboyant 
arches  and  Gothic  canopies  were  frequently  retained 
and  mingled  with  classic  decoration.  The  French 
clung  to  their  older  characteristics  with  more 
tenacity,  inasmuch  as  the  Renaissance  was  a sudden 
importation  rather  than  a natural  development  of 
slower  growth. 

The  French  Renaissance  cabinet  of  walnut  illus- 
trated (p.  48)  is  from  Lyons,  and  is  of  the  later 
part  of  the  sixteenth  century.  It  is  finely  carved 
with  terminal  figures,  masks,  trophies  of  ornaments, 
and  other  ornament.  In  comparison  with  the  six- 
teenth-century ebony  cabinet  of  the  period  of 
Henry  IV.,  finely  inlaid  with  ivory  in  most  refined 
style,  it  is  obvious  that  a great  variety  of  sumptuous 
furniture  was  being  made  by  the  production  of  such 
diverse  types  as  these,  and  that  the  craftsmen  were 
possessed  of  a wealth  of  invention.  The  range  of 
English  craftsmen’s  designs  during  the  Renaissance 
in  this  country  was  never  so  extensive,  as  can  be 
seen  on  a detailed  examination  of  English  work. 


CABINET  OF  WALNUT' 

FRENCH  (LYONS)  ; SECOND  HALF  OF  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 
Carved  with  terminal  figures,  masks,  and  trophies  of  arms. 

{Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.) 

century  the  wood  carving  of  Spain  is  of  exceeding 


48  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


In  Spain  the  Italian  feeling  became  acclimatised 
more  readily  than  in  France.  In  the  sixteenth 


EENAISSANCE  ON  THE  CONTINENT  49 


beauty.  The  decoration  of  the  choir  of  the  cathedral 
at  Toledo  is  held  to  be  one  of  the  finest  examples  of 
the  Spanish  Renaissance.  In  furniture  the  cabinets 
and  buffets  of  the  Spanish  craftsmen  are  of  perfect 
grace  and  of  characteristic  design.  The  older  Spanish 
cabinets  are  decorated  externally  with  delicate  iron- 
work and  with  columns  of  ivory  or  bone  painted  and 
richly  gilded,  exhibiting  Moorish  influence  in  their 
character.  Many  of  the  more  magnificent  specimens 
are  richly  inlaid  with  silver,  and  are  the  work  of 
the  artists  of  Seville,  of  Toledo,  or  of  Valladolid. 
The  first  illustration  of  a cabinet  and  stand  is  a typi- 
cally Spanish  design,  and  the  second  illustration  of  the 
carved  walnut  chest  in  the  National  Archselogical 
Museum  at  Madrid  is  of  the  sixteenth  century,  when 
the  Spanish  wood -carvers  had  developed  the  Re- 
naissance spirit  and  reached  a very  high  level  in 
their  art. 

Simultaneously  with  the  Italianising  of  French  art 
a similar  wave  of  novelty  was  spreading  over  the 
Netherlands  and  Germany.  The  Flemish  Renais- 
sance approaches  more  nearly  to  the  English  in  the 
adaptation  of  the  Italian  style,  or  it  would  be  more 
accurate  to  say  that  the  English  is  more  closely 
allied  to  the  art  of  the  Netherlands,  as  it  drew  much 
of  its  inspiration  from  the  Flemish  wood-carvers.  The 
spiral  turned  legs  and  columns,  the  strap  frets  cut  out 
and  applied  to  various  parts,  the  squares  between 
turnings  often  left  blank  to  admit  of  a little  ebony 
diamond,  are  all  of  the  same  family  as  the  English 
styles.  Ebony  inlay  was  frequently  used,  but  the 
Flemish  work  of  this  period  was  nearly  all  in  oak. 

4 


50 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


Marqueterie  of  rich  design  was  made,  the  inlay  being 
of  various  coloured  woods  and  shaded.  Mother-of- 
pearl  and  ivory  were  also  employed  to  heighten  the 
effect. 

The  Italian  Renaissance  laid  a light  hand  upon  the 
Flemish  artists,  who,  while  unavoidably  coming  under 
its  influence,  at  first  copied  its  ornateness  but  subse- 


FRENCIi  CABIN  I'LT. 

Ebony  and  ivory  marquetry  work. 
MIDDLE  OF  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 
{From  the  coUectioji  of  M.  Emile  Peyj'e.) 


quently  proceeded  on  their  own  lines.  Much  quaint 
figure  work,  in  which  they  greatly  excelled,  was  used 
by  the  Flemish  wood-carvers  in  their  joinery.  It  is 
grotesque  in  character,  and,  like  all  their  work,  boldly 
executed.  The  influx  of  foreign  influences  upon  the 


locked  dykes.  The  growth  of  the  Spanish  power 
made  Charles  V.  the  most  powerful  prince  in  Europe. 


RENAISSANCE  ON  THE  CONTINENT  51 

Netherlands  was  in  the  main  as  successfully  resisted 
as  is  the  encroachment  of  the  sea  across  their  land- 


SPANISrt'  CABINET  AND  STAND.  CARVED  CHESTNUT  ; 
FIRST  HALF  OF  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Width  of  cabinet,  3 ft.  2 in.  ; depth,  i ft.  4 in.  ; height,  4 ft.  10  in. 
{Victoria  and  Albert  Mit-seum.) 


52 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 

Ferdinand  of  Spain  held  the  whole  Spanish  peninsula 
except  Portugal,  with  Sardinia  and  the  island  of 
Sicily,  and  he  won  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  His 
daughter  Joanna  married  Philip,  the  son  of  Maxi- 
milian of  Austria,  and  of  Mary  the  daughter  of 
Charles  the  Bold.  Their  son  Charles  thus  inherited 
kingdoms  and  duchies  from  each  of  his  parents  and 


SPANISH  CHEST  ; CARVED  WALNUT. 

sixtee;nth  century. 


(/«  the  National  Museum,  Madrid.) 


grandparents,  and  besides  the  dominions  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella,  he  held  Burgundy  and  the  Netherlands. 
In  1519  he  was  chosen  Emperor  as  Charles  V. 
Flooded  with  Italian  artists  and  Austrian  and  Spanish 
rulers,  it  is  interesting  to  note  how  the  national  spirit 
in  art  was  kept  alive,  and  was  of  such  strong  growth 
that  it  influenced  in  marked  manner  the  English 
furniture  of  the  late  sixteenth  and  early  seventeenth 
century,  as  will  be  shown  in  a subsequent  chapter. 


RENAISSANCE  ON  THE  CONTINENT  53 


RECENT  SALE  PRICES.^ 

£ s.  d. 

Chest,  Gothic,  carved  with  parchemin 
panels,  with  a wrought-iron  lock, 
from  Nuremburg  Castle,  German, 
about  1500.  Christie,  January  29, 

1904 31  10  o 

Cabinet,  walnut  wood,  of  architectural  de- 
sign, with  folding  doors  above  and 
below  and  small  drawers,  carved  with 
arabesque  foliage  and  scrolls  in  relief, 
and  with  columns  at  the  angles,  69  in. 
high,  38  in.  wide,  French,  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  century.  Christie, 

April  12,  1904 21  o o 

Coffer,  oak,  the  front  divided  by  six  but- 
tresses, the  steel  lock  pierced  with 
tracery,  65  in.  long,  46  in.  high, 

French,  late  fifteenth  century.  Christie, 

May  6,  1904 126  o o 

Coffer,  large  walnut  wood,  the  whole  of 
the  front  and  sides  carved  in  low 
relief,  the  lock  is  rectangular,  and 
pierced  with  flamboyant  tracery, 

French  (provincial),  early  part  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  84  in.  wide,  36  in. 
high.  Christie,  May  6,  1904  . . 50  8 o 

* By  the  kindness  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Connoisseu? 

these  items  are  given  from  their  useful  monthly  publication, 

Auction  Sale  Prices. 


54 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FUHAITUHE 


Coffer,  walnut  wood,  the  front  and  sides 
divided  into  arch-shaped  panels  con- 
taining Gothic  tracery,  86  in.  wide, 

32  in.  high,  French,  fifteenth  century. 
Christie,  May  6,  1904  . . .52 

Chair,  walnut  wood,  with  semicircular 
seat,  the  back  composed  of  six  up- 
right rectangular  panels,  each  con- 
taining various  forms  of  Gothic 
tracery  ; below  is  a longitudinal 
panel  of  tracery,  27  in.  wide,  29  in. 
high,  French  or  Flemish,  fifteenth 
century.  Christie,  May  6,  1904  . 91 

Credence,  oak,  with  folding  doors  and 
drawers  above  and  shelf  beneath,  the 
corners  are  returned,  the  various  door 
panels,  &c.,  carved  in  low  relief ; at 
the  back  below  is  linen  fold  panelling, 

54  in.  wide,  62  in.  high,  probably 
French,  early  sixteenth  century. 
Christie,  May  6,  1904  . . .33b 

Cabinet,  walnut-wood,  in  two  parts,  of 
rectangular  form,  with  folding  doors 
above  and  below,  and  two  drawers  in 
the  centre,  carved  with  grotesque 
terminal  figure  and  gadrooned  mould- 
ings, strapwork  and  duplicated  rosettes, 
French  work,  early  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, 78  in.  high,  48  in.  wide.  Christie, 

May  6,  1904 no 


s.  d 


10  o 


7 o 


o o 


5 o 


RENAISSANCE  ON  THE  CONTINENT  55 


£ s.  d. 

Cabinet,  walnut-wood,  in  two  parts,  of 
rectangular  form,  with  folding  doors 
below  and  door  above  ; at  the  sides 
are  terminal  male  and  female  figures, 
the  centres  of  the  doors  carved,  92  in. 
high,  49  in.  wide,  French  work  (Lyons 
School),  second  quarter  of  sixteenth 
century.  Christie,  May  6,  1904  . 99  13  o 


1 3 


V •. 


£ 


II 

THE  ENGLISH 
RENAISSANCE 


p 


•d- 


V 


A 


CARVED  OAK  CHEST. 
ENGLISH;  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 
Panels  finely  carved  with  Gothic  tracery. 


II 


THE  ENGLISH 

Henry  VHI.  . . 1509-1547. 

Edward  VI.  . . 1 547-1553 • 

Mary 1553-1558. 

Elizabeth  . . . 1558-1603. 


RENAISSANCE 

1525.  Hampton  Court  built. 

1666.  Increased  commercial 
prosperity.  Foundation  of 
Royal  Exchange  by  Sir 
Thomas  Gresham. 

1680.  Drake  comes  home  from 
the  New  World  with  plun- 
der worth  half  a million. 

1585.  Antwerp  captured  by  the 
Duke  of  Parma ; flight  of 
merchants  to  London. 
Transfer  of  commercial 
supremacy  from  Antwerp 
to  London.  Beginning  of 
carrying  trade,  especially 
with'  Flanders, 


The  opening  years  of  the  sixteenth  century  saw 
the  beginnings  of  the  Renaissance  movement  in 

59 


60  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 

England.  The  oak  chest  had  become  a settle  with 
high  back  and  arms.  The  fine  example  of  an  early 
sixteenth-century  oak  chest  illustrated  (p.  59)  shows 
how  the  Gothic  style  had  impressed  itself  on  articles 
of  domestic  iurniture.  The  credence,  or  tasting 


BENCH  OF  OAK.  FRENCH;  ABOUT  I5OO. 

With  panels  of  linen  ornament.  Seat  arranged  as  a coffer. 

(Formerly  in  the  collection  of  M.  Emile  Peyre.) 

{Royal  Scottish  Miisewn^  Edinburgh.) 

buffet,  had  developed  into  the  Tudor  sideboard, 
where  a cloth  was  spread  and  candles  placed.  With 
more  peaceful  times  a growth  of  domestic  refinement 
required  comfortable  and  even  luxurious  surroundings. 
The  royal  palaces  at  Richmond  and  Windsor  were 
filled  with  costly  foreign  furniture.  The  mansions 


PORTION  OF  CARVED  WALNUT  VIRGINAL. 
FLEMISH  ; SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 
{^Victoria  and  Albert  Aluseu/u.) 


FRENCH  CARVED  OAK  COFFER. 
Showing  interlaced  ribbon  work. 
SECOND  HALF  OF  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 
(Height,  2 ft.  I in. ; width,  3 ft.  i in.) 
[Victoria  and  Albert  Afnseum.) 


THE  ENGLISH  RENAISSANCE 


63 


which  were  taking  the  place  of  the  old  feudal  castles 
found  enaployment  for  foreign  artists  and  craftsmen 
who  taught  the  English  woodcarver.  In  the  early 
days  of  Henry  VIII.  the  classical  style  supplanted 
the  Gothic,  or  was  in  great  measure  mingled  with  it. 
Many  fine  structures  exist  which  belong  to  this 
transition  period,  during  which  the  mixed  style  was 
predominant.  The  woodwork  of  King’s  College 
Chapel  at  Cambridge  is  held  to  be  an  especially 
notable  example. 

The  Great  Hall  at  Hampton  Court  dates  from 
1531,  or  five  years  after  Cardinal  Wolsey  had  given 
up  his  palace  to  Henry  VIII.  Its  grand  proportions, 
its  high-pitched  roof  and  pendants,  display  the  art  of 
the  woodcarver  in  great  excellence.  This  hall,  like 
others  of  the  same  period,  had  an  open  hearth  in  the 
centre,  on  which  logs  of  wood  were  placed,  and  the 
smoke  found  its  way  out  through  a cupola,  or  louvre, 
in  the  roof. 

The  roofs  of  the  Early  Tudor  mansions  were 
magnificent  specimens  of  woodwork.  But  the  old 
style  of  king-post,  queen-post,  or  hammer-beam  roof 
was  prevalent.  The  panelling,  too,  of  halls  and 
rooms  retained  the  formal  character  in  its  mouldings, 
and  various  “ linen  ” patterns  were  used,  so  called 
from  their  resemblance  to  a folded  napkin,  an  orna- 
mentation largely  used  towards  the  end  of  the 
Perpendicular  style,  which  was  characteristic  of 
English  domestic  architecture  in  the  fifteenth 
century.  To  this  period  belongs  the  superb  wood- 
carving of  the  renowned  choir  stalls  of  Henry  VII.’s 
Chapel  in  Westminister  Abbey. 


64 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


The  bench  of  oak  illustrated  (p.  6o)  shows  a 
common  form  of  panel  with  linen  ornament,  and  is 
French,  of  about  the  year  1500.  The  seat,  as  will 
be  seen,  is  arranged  as  a locked  coffer. 


riKEPLACE  AND  OAK  PANELLING  FROM  THE  “OLD  PALACE 
AT  BROMLEY-BY-BOW.  BUILT  IN  l6o6. 

{Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.) 


The  Elizabethan  woodcarver  revelled  in  grotesque 
figure  work,  in  intricate  interlacings  of  strapwork, 
borrowed  from  the  Flemish,  and  ribbon  ornamenta- 
tion, adapted  from  the  French.  He  delighted  in 


THE  ENGLISH  RENAISSANCE 


65 


massive  embellishment  of  magnificent  proportions. 
Among  Tudor  woodwork  the  carved  oak  screen  of 
the  Middle  Temple  Hall  is  a noteworthy  example  of 
the  sumptuousness  and  splendour  of  interior  decora- 
tion of  the  English  Renaissance.  These  screens 
supporting  the  minstrels’  gallery  in  old  halls  are 
usually  exceptionally  rich  in  detail.  Gray’s  Inn 
(dated  1560)  and  the  Charterhouse  (dated  1571)  are 
other  examples  of  the  best  period  of  sixteenth-century 
woodwork  in  England. 

Christ  Church  at  Oxford,  Grimsthorp  in  Lincoln- 
shire, Kenninghall  in  Norfolk,  Layer  Marney  Towers 
in  Essex,  and  Sutton  Place  at  Guildford,  are  all 
representative  structures  typical  of  the  halls  and 
manor  houses  being  built  at  the  time  of  the  English 
Renaissance. 

In  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  has  been 
re-erected  a room  having  the  oak  panelling  from  the 
“ Old  Palace  ” at  Bromley-by-Bow,  which  was  built 
in  1606.  The  massive  fireplace  with  the  royal  coat  of 
arms  above,  with  the  niches  in  which  stand  carved 
figures  of  two  saints,  together  with  the  contemporary 
iron  fire-dogs  standing  in  the  hearth,  give  a picture  of 
what  an  old  Elizabethan  hall  was  like. 

Under  Queen  Elizabeth  new  impulses  stirred  the 
nation,  and  a sumptuous  Court  set  the  fashion  in 
greater  luxury  of  living.  Gloriana,  with  her  merchant- 
princes,  her  fleet  of  adventurers  on  the  high  seas,  and 
the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  her  troop  of  foreign 
lovers,  brought  foreign  fashions  and  foreign  art  into 
commoner  usage.  The  growth  of  luxurious  habits  in 
the  people  was  eyed  askance  by  her  statesmen  ; 

5 


66  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 

“ England  spendeth  more  in  wines  in  one  year,”  com- 
plained Cecil,  “ than  it  did  in  ancient  times  in  four 


ELIZABETHAN  BEDSTEAD.  DATED  1 593. 

Carved  oak,  ornamented  in  marquetry. 

(Height,  7 ft.  4 in.  : length,  7 ft.  ii  in.  ; width,  5 ft.  8 in.) 

{Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.) 

years.”  The  chimney-corner  took  the  place  of  the 
open  hearth  ; chimneys  were  for  the  first  time  familiar 


THE  ENGLISH  RENAISSANCE 


67 


features  in  middle-class  houses.  The  insanitary  rush^ 
floor  was  superseded  by  wood,  and  carpets  came  into 
general  use.  Even  pillows,  deemed  by  the  hardy 
yeomanry  as  only  fit  “ for  women  in  child-bed,”  found 
a place  in  the  massive  and  elaborately  carved  Eliza- 
bethan bedstead. 

The  illustration  of  the  fine  Elizabethan  bedstead  (on 
p.  66)  gives  a very  good  idea  of  what  the  domestic 
furniture  was  like  in  the  days  immediately  succeeding 
the  Spanish  Armada.  It  is  carved  in  oak;  with 
columns,  tester,  and  headboard  showing  the  classic 
influence.  It  is  ornamented  in  marquetry,  and  bears 
the  date  1593. 

All  over  England  were  springing  up  town  halls  and 
fine  houses  of  the  trading-classes,  and  manor  houses 
and  palaces  of  the  nobility  worthy  of  the  people 
about  to  establish  a formidable  position  in  European 
politics.  Hatfield  House,  Hardwick  Hall,  Audley 
End,  Burleigh,  Knole,  and  Longleat,  all  testify  to  the 
Renaissance  which  swept  over  England  at  this  time. 
Stately  terraces  with  Italian  gardens,  long  galleries 
hung  with  tapestries,  and  lined  with  carved  oak  chairs 
and  elaborate  cabinets  were  marked  features  in  the 
days  of  the  new  splendour.  Men’s  minds,  led  by 
Raleigh,  the  Prince  of  Company  Promoters,  and  fired 
by  Drake’s  buccaneering  exploits,  turned  to  the  New 
World,  hitherto  under  the  heel  of  Spain.  Dreams  of 
galleons  laden  with  gold  and  jewels  stimulated  the 
ambition  of  adventurous  gallants,  and  quickened  the 
nation’s  pulse.  The  love  of  travel  became  a portion  of 
the  Englishman’s  heritage.  The  Italian  spirit  had 
reached  England  in  full  force.  The  poetry  and 


68 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


romances  of  Italy  affected  all  the  Elizabethan  men  of 
letters.  Shakespeare,  in  his  “ Merchant  of  Venice  ” 
and  his  other  plays,  plainly  shows  the  Italian  in- 
fluence. In  costume,  in  speech,  and  in  furniture,  it 
became  the  fashion  to  follow  Italy.  To  Ascham  it 
seemed  like  “ the  enchantment  of  Circe  brought  out 
of  Italy  to  mar  men’s  manners  in  England.”  -p 


PANEL  OF  CARVED  OAK. 

ENGLISH  ; EARLY  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Showing  interlaced  strapwork. 

(^Victoria  and  Albert  Museum,') 

The  result  of  this  wave  of  fashion  on  the  domestic 
furniture  of  England  was  to  impart  to  it  the  elegance 
of  Italian  art  combined  with  a national  sturdiness  of 
character  seemingly  inseparable  from  English  art  at 
all  periods.  As  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth  ex- 
tended from  the  year  1558  to  the  year  1603,  it  is 


THE  ENGLISH  RENAISSANCE 


69 


usual  to  speak  of  architecture  and  furniture  of  the 
latter  half  of  the  sixteenth  century  as  Elizabethan. 

A favourite  design  in  Elizabethan  woodwork  is  the 
interlaced  strapwork  (see  illustration  p.  68),  which 
was  derived  from  similar  designs  employed  by  the 
contemporary  stonecarver,  and  is  found  on  Flemish 
woodwork  of  the  same  period.  The  panel  of  a 
sixteenth-century  Flemish  virginal,  carved  in  walnut, 
illustrated,  shows  this  form  of  decoration.  Grotesque 
terminal  figures,  half-human,  half-monster,  supported 
the  front  of  the  buffets,  or  were  the  supporting  terminals 
of  cornices.  This  feature  is  an  adaptation  from  the 
Caryatides,  the  supporting  figures  used  instead  of 
columns  in  architecture,  which  in  Renaissance  days 
extended  to  woodwork.  Table-legs  and  bed-posts 
swelled  into  heavy,  acorn-shaped  supports  of  massive 
dimensions.  Cabinets  were  sometimes  inlaid,  as  was 
also  the  room  panelling,  but  it  cannot  be  said  that  at 
this  period  the  art  of  marquetry  had  arrived  at  a 
great  state  of  perfection  in  this  country. 

It  is  noticeable  that  in  the  rare  pieces  that  are 
inlaid  in  the  Late  Tudor  and  Early  Jacobean  period 
the  inlay  itself  is  a sixteenth  of  an  inch  thick,  whereas 
in  later  inlays  of  more  modern  days  the  inlay  is 
thinner  and  flimsier.  In  the  Flemish  examples  ivory 
was  often  used,  and  holly  and  sycamore  and  box 
seem  to  have  been  the  favourite  woods  selected  for 
inlay. 

Take,  for  example,  the  mirror  with  the  frame  of 
carved  oak,  with  scroll  outline  and  narrow  bands 
inlaid  with  small  squares  of  wood,  alternately  light 
and  dark.  This  inlay  is  very  coarsely  done,  and 


70 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


unworthy  to  compare  with  Italian  marquetry  of  con- 
temporary date,  or  of  an  earlier  period.  The  uprights 
and  feet  of  the  frame,  it  will  be  noticed,  are  baluster- 
shaped. The  glass  mirror  is  of  nineteenth-century 
manufacture.  The  date  carved  upon  the  frame  is 
1603,  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  James  I.,  and  it  is 
stated  to  have  come  from  Derby  Old  Hall. 

The  Court  cupboard,  also  of  the  same  date,  begins 
to  show  the  coming  style  of  Jacobean  ornamentation 
in  the  turning  in  the  upright  pillars  and  supports  and 
the  square  baluster  termination.  The  massive  carving 
and  elaborate  richness  of  the  early  Elizabethan  period 
have  given  place  to  a more  restrained  decoration. 
Between  the  drawers  is  the  design  of  a tulip  in 
marquetry,  and  narrow  bands  of  inlay  are  used  to 
decorate  the  piece.  In  place  of  the  chimerical 
monsters  we  have  a portrait  in  wood  of  a lady,  for 
which  Arabella  Stuart  might  have  sat  as  model. 
The  days  were  approaching  when  furniture  was 
designed  for  use,  and  ornament  was  put  aside  if  it 
interfered  with  the  structural  utility  of  the  piece. 
The  wrought-iron  handle  to  the  drawer  should  be 
noted,  and  in  connection  with  the  observation  brought 
to  bear  by  the  beginner  on  genuine  specimens  in  the 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  and  other  collections,  it 
is  well  not  to  let  any  detail  escape  minute  attention. 
Hinges  and  lock  escutcheons  and  handles  to  drawers 
must  not  be  neglected  in  order  to  acquire  a sound 
working  knowledge  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  different 
periods. 

In  contrast  with  this  specimen,  the  elaborately 
carved  Court  cupboard  of  a slightly  earlier  period 


MIRROR. 

Glass  in  oak  frame  with  carved  scroll  outline  and  narrow  bands  inlaid 
with  small  squares  of  wood.  The  glass  nineteenth  century. 

ENGLISH.  DATED  1603. 

[l^ictoria  and  Albert  Muse  nut.) 


i 


T 


/ 


H 


THE  ENGLISH  RENAISSANCE  73 

should  be  examined.  It  bears  carving  on  every  avail- 
able surface.  It  has  been  “restored,”  and  restored 
pieces  have  an  unpleasant  fashion  of  suggesting  that 


COURT  CUPBOARD,  CARVED  OAK. 

ENGLISH.  DATED  1603. 

Decorated  with  narrow  bands  inlaid,  and  having  inlaid  tulip 
between  drawers. 

{Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.) 

sundry  improvements  have  been  carried  out  in  the 
process.  At  any  rate,  as  it  stands  it  is  over-laboured, 
and  entirely  lacking  in  reticence.  The  elaboration  of 
enrichment,  while  executed  in  a perfectly  harmonious 


74 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


manner,  should  convey  a lesson  to  the  student  of 
furniture.  There  is  an  absence  of  contrast  ; had  por- 
tions of  it  been  left  uncarved  how  much  more 
effective  would  have  been  the  result ! As  it  is  it 


COURT  CUPKOARD,  CARVED  OAK. 
ABOUT  1580.  (restored.) 
{Victoria  and  Albert  Musenm.) 


stands,  wonderful  as  is  the  technique,  somewhat  of  a 
warning  to  the  designer  to  cultivate  a studied  sim- 
plicity rather  than  to  run  riot  in  a profusion  of 
detail. 


THE  ENGLISH  RENAISSANCE 


75 


Another  interesting  Court  cupboard,  of  the  early 
seventeenth  century,  shows  the  more  restrained  style 
that  was  rapidly  succeeding  the  earlier  work.  This 
piece  is  essentially  English  in  spirit,  and  is  untouched 
save  the  legs,  which  have  been  restored. 


By  khid  permission  of 
T.  E.  Price  Strekhe,  Esq. 


COURT  CUPBOARD,  EARLY  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

With  secret  hiding-place  at  top. 

The  table  which  is  illustrated  (p.  78)  is  a typical 
example  of  the  table  in  ordinary  use  in  Elizabethan 
days.  This  table  replaced  a stone  altar  in  a church 
in  Shropshire  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation. 

It  was  late  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth  that 
upholstered  chairs  became  more  general.  Sir  John 
Harrington,  writing  in  1597,  gives  evidence  of  this  in 


76 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


the  assertion  that  “ the  fashion  of  cushioned  chayrs  is 
taken  up  in  every  merchant’s  house.”  Wooden  seats 
had  hitherto  not  been  thought  too  hard,  and  chairs 
imported  from  Spain  had  leather  seats  and  backs  of 
fine  tooled  work  richly  gilded  and  decorated.  In  the 
latter  days  of  Elizabeth  loose  cushions  were  used  for 
chairs  and  for  window  seats,  and  were  elaborately 
wrought  in  velvet,  or  were  of  satin  embroidered  in 
colours,  with  pearls  as  ornamentation,  and  edged 
with  gold  or  silver  lace. 

The  upholstered  chair  belongs  more  properly 
to  the  Jacobean  period,  and  in  the  next  chapter 
will  be  shown  several  specimens  of  those  used  by 
James  I. 

In  Elizabethan  panelling  to  rooms,  in  chimney- 
pieces,  doorways,  screens  such  as  those  built  across 
the  end  of  a hall  and  supporting  the  minstrels’ 
gallery,  the  wood  used  was  nearly  always  English 
oak,  and  most  of  the  thinner  parts,  such  as  that 
designed  for  panels  and  smaller  surfaces,  was  obtained 
by  splitting  the  timber,  thus  exhibiting  the  beautiful 
figure  of  the  wood  so  noticeable  in  old  examples. 

RECENT  SALE  PRICES.^ 

£ s.  d. 

Chest,  oak,  with  inlaid  panels  under 
arches,  with  caryatid  figures  carved 
in  box-wood,  English,  temp.  Eliza- 
beth. Christie,  January  29,  1904  . 40  9 o 

* By  the  kindness  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Connoisseur^ 
these  items  are  given  from  their  useful  monthly  publication. 
Auction  Sale  Prices. 


THE  ENGLISH  RENAISSANCE  77 

S.  d 

Tudor  mantelpiece,  with  elaborately  > 
carved  jambs,  panels,  brackets,  sides, 
and  cornice,  6 ft  by  7 ft.  3 in.  high. 

Herbert  Wright,  Ipswich,  February 

19,  1904 

Old  oak  panelling,  in  all  about  60  ft  run  \i55  o o 
and  6 ft  6 in.  high,  with  17  carved 
panels  and  3 fluted  pilasters  fitted 
in  same,  part  being  surmounted  by  a 
cornice.  Herbert  Wright,  Ipswich, 

February  19,  1904  . . . ./ 

Credence,  walnut-wood,  with  a cupboard 
and  drawer  above  and  shelf  beneath, 
the  corners  are  returned,  the  central 
panel  has  carved  upon  it,  in  low 
relief,  circular  medallions,  pierced 
steel  hinges  and  lock,  36  in.  wide, 

50  in.  high,  early  sixteenth  century. 

Christie,  May  6,  1904  . . . 346  o o 

Bedstead,  Elizabethan,  with  panelled  and 
carved  canopy  top,  supported  by 
fluted  and  carved  pillars,  inlaid  and 
panelled  back,  with  raised  figures  and 
flowers  in  relief,  also  having  a carved 
panelled  footboard.  C.  W.  Provis 
& Son,  Manchester,  May  9,  1904  . 22  10  o 

Bedstead,  oak  Elizabethan,  with  carved 
back,  dated  1560,  and  small  cupboard 
fitted  with  secret  sliding  panel,  and 
further  having  carved  and  inlaid 
panelled  top  with  inlaid  panels,  the 


78 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


^ s.  d. 

whole  surmounted  with  heavy  cornice. 

C.  W.  Provis  & Son,  Manchester, 

May  9,  1904 33  o o 

Sideboard,  Elizabethan  old  oak,  6 ft.  2 in. 
wide  by  7 ft.  6 in.  high,  with  carved 
canopy  top  ; also  fitted  with  gallery 
shelf,  supported  by  lions  rampant. 

C.  W.  Provis  & Son,  Manchester. 

May  9,  1904 60  o o 


Ey  kindness  of 

T.  E.  Price  Sir  etc  he.  Esq. 


ELIZABETHAN  OAK  TABLE. 


Ill 


STUART  OR 
JACOBEAN. 

SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 


By  permission  of 

Messrs.  {Taring.  GATE-LEG  TABLE. 


Ill 

STUART  OR  JACOBEAN.  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 


James  1 1603-1625. 

Charles  1 1625-1649. 

The  Commonwealth  1649-1660. 


1619.  Tapestry  factory  estab- 
lished at  Mortlake,  under 
Sir  B'rancis  Crane. 

— Banqueting  Hall  added  to 
Whitehall  by  Inigo  Jones. 

1632.  Vandyck  settled  in  London 
on  invitation  of  Charles  I. 

1651.  Navigation  Act  passed ; 
aimed  blow  (1572-1652)  at 
Dutch  carrying  trade.  All 
goods  to  be  imported  in 
English  ships  or  in  ships  of 
country  producing  goods. 


With  the  advent  of  the  House  of  Stuart  the  England 
under  James  I.  saw  new  fashions  introduced  in 
furniture.  It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  the 


82 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


greater  number  of  old  houses  which  are  now  termed 
Tudor  or  Elizabethan  were  erected  in  the  days  of 
James  I.  At  the  beginning  of  a new  monarchy 
fashion  in  art  rarely  changes  suddenly,  so  that  the 
early  pieces  of  Jacobean  furniture  differ  very  little 
from  Elizabethan  in  character.  Consequently  the 
Court  cupboard,  dated  1603,  mirror  of  the  same 
year  (illustrated  on  p.  70),  though  bearing  the  date 
of  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  James,  more  properly 
belong  to  Tudor  days. 

In  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford  there  is  pre- 
served a chair  of  fine  workmanship  and  of  historic 
memory.  It  was  made  from  the  oak  timbers  of  the 
Golden  Hind,  the  ship  in  which  Sir  Francis  Drake 
made  his  adventurous  voyage  of  discovery  round  the 
world.  In  spite  of  many  secret  enemies  “ deaming 
him  the  master  thiefe  of  the  unknowne  world,”  Queen 
Elizabeth  came  to  Deptford  and  came  aboard  the 
Golden  Hind  and  “ there  she  did  make  Captain  Drake 
knight,  in  the  same  ship,  for  reward  of  his  services  ; 
his  armes  were  given  him,  a ship  on  the  world,  which 
ship,  by  Her  Majestie’s  commandment,  is  lodged  in  a 
dock  at  Deptford,  for  a monument  to  all  posterity.” 

It  remained  for  many  years  at  Deptford  dockyard, 
and  became  the  resort  of  holiday  folk,  who  made 
merry  in  the  cabin,  which  was  converted  into  a 
miniature  banqueting  hall  ; but  when  it  was  too  far 
decayed  to  be  repaired  it  was  broken  up,  and  a 
sufficient  quantity  of  sound  wood  was  selected  from 
it  and  made  into  a chair,  which  was  presented  to  the 
University  of  Oxford.  This  was  in  the  time  of 
Charles  II.,  and  the  poet  Cowley  has  written  some 


By  permission  oj  ike 
proprietors  of  the  “ Connoisseur. 

OAK  CHAIR  MADE  FROM  THE  TIMBER  OF  THE  GOLDEN  HIND. 
COMMONLY  CALLED  “SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE'S  CHAIR.” 

[^At  ihe  Bodleian  Libcaryl) 


I 


i 


( 


V ^ 


M 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN 


85 


lines  on  it,  in  which  he  says  that  Drake  and  his 
Golden  Hind  could  not  have  wished  a more  blessed 
fate,  since  to  “ this  Pythagorean  ship  ” 

“ . . . a seat  of  endless  rest  is  given 
To  her  in  Oxford,  and  to  him  in  heaven — ’’ 


By  permission  of  the 
Master  of  the  Charterhouse. 


OAK  TABLE,  DATED  l6l6,  BEARING  ARMS  OF  THOMAS  SUTTON, 
FOUNDER  OF  THE  CHARTERHOUSE  HOSPITAL. 

which,  though  quite  unintentional  on  the  part  of  the 
poet,  IS  curiously  satiric. 

The  piece  is  highly  instructive  as  showing  the 
prevailing  design  for  a sumptuous  chair  in  the  late 
seventeenth  century.  The  middle  arch  in  the  back  of 
the  chair  is  disfigured  by  a tablet  with  an  inscription, 
which  has  been  placed  there. 

Of  the  early  days  of  James  I.  is  a finely  carved  oak 
table,  dated  i6i6.  This  table  is  heavily  moulded  and 


86 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FUENITURE 


carved  with  garlands  between  cherubs’  heads,  and 
shields  bearing  the  arms  of  Thomas  Sutton,  the 
founder  of  the  Charterhouse  Hospital.  The  upper 
part  of  the  table  is  supported  on  thirteen  columns, 
with  quasi-Corinthian  columns  and  enriched  shafts, 
standing  on  a moulded  H-shaped  base.  It  will  be 
seen  that  the  designers  had  not  yet  thrown  off  the 
trammels  of  architecture  which  dominated  much  of 
the  Renaissance  woodwork.  The  garlands  are  not 
the  garlands  of  Grinling  Gibbons,  and  although 
falling  within  the  Jacobean  period,  it  lacks  the  charm 
which  belong  to  typical  Jacobean  pieces. 

At  Knole,  in  the  possession  of  Lord  Sackville,  there 
are  some  fine  specimens  of  early  Jacobean  furniture, 
illustrations  of  which  are  included  in  this  volume. 
The  chair  used  by  King  James  I.  when  sitting  to  the 
painter  Mytens  is  of  peculiar  interest.  The  cushion, 
worn  and  threadbare  with  age,  is  in  all  probability  the 
same  cushion  used  by  James.  The  upper  part  of  the 
chair  is  trimmed  with  a band  of  gold  thread.  The 
upholstering  is  red  velvet,  and  the  frame,  which  is  of 
oak,  bears  traces  of  gilding  upon  it,  and  is  studded 
with  copper  nails.  The  chair  in  design,  with  the 
half  circular  supports,  follows  old  Venetian  patterns. 
The  smaller  chair  is  of  the  same  date,  and  equally 
interesting  as  a fine  specimen  ; the  old  embroidery, 
discoloured  and  worn  though  it  be,  is  of  striking 
design  and  must  have  been  brilliant  and  distinctive 
three  hundred  years  ago.  The  date  of  these  pieces 
is  about  1620,  the  year  when  the  “Pilgrim  Fathers” 
landed  in  America. 

From  the  wealth  of  Jacobean  furniture  at  Knole  it 


Hy  permission  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  "Connoisseur. 


CHAIR  USED  BY  JAMES  I. 

In  the  possession  of  Lord  Sackville. 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN 


89 


is  difficult  to  make  a representative  selection,  but  the 
stool  we  reproduce  (p.  go)  is  interesting,  inasmuch  as 


3y  permission  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  “Connoisseur. 


JACOBEAN  CHAIR  AT  KNOLE. 
In  the  possession  of  Lord  Sackville. 


it  was  a piece  of  furniture  in  common  use.  The 
chairs  evidently  were  State  chairs,  but  the  footstool 


90 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


was  used  in  all  likelihood  by  those  who  sat  below  the 
salt,  and  were  of  less  significance.  The  stuffed  settee 
which  finds  a place  in  the  billiard-room  at  Knole 
and  the  sumptuous  sofa  in  the  Long  Gallery,  with  its 
mechanical  arrangement  for  altering  the  angle  at  the 


By  permission  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  “ Connoisseur.' 


JACOBEAN  STOOL  AT  KNOLE. 
In  the  possession  of  Lord  Sackville. 


head,  are  objects  of  furniture  difficult  to  equal.  The 
silk  and  gold  thread  coverings  are  faded,  and  the 
knotted  fringe  and  gold  braid  have  tarnished  under 
the  hand  of  Time,  but  their  structural  design  is  so 
effective  that  the  modern  craftsman  has  made  luxu- 
rious furniture  after  these  models. 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN  91 

Carved  oak  chests  were  not  largely  made  in 


UPPER  HALF  OF  CARVED  WALNUT  DOOR. 

Showing  ribbon  w'ork. 

FRENCH  ; LATTER  PART  OF  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 

(Height  of  door,  4 ft.  7 in.  ; width,  i ft.  ii  in.) 

[Victoria  and  Albert  Mnseiim.) 

Jacobean  days — not,  at  any  rate,  for  the  same  purpose 
as  they  were  in  Tudor  or  earlier  times.  As  church 


92 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


coffers  they  doubtless  continued  to  be  required,  but  for 
articles  of  domestic  furniture  other  than  as  linen  chests 
their  multifarious  uses  had  vanished.  Early  Jacobean 
coffers  clearly  show  the  departure  from  Elizabethan 
models.  They  become  more  distinctly  English  in 
feeling,  though  the  interlaced  ribbon  decoration,  so 
frequently  used,  is  an  adaptation  from  French  work, 
which  pattern  was  now  becoming  acclimatised.  The 
French  carved  oak  coffer  of  the  second  half  of  the 
sixteenth  century  (illustrated  p.  6i)  shows  from  what 
source  some  of  the  English  designs  were  derived. 

In  the  portion  of  the  French  door  which  we  give  as 
an  illustration  (on  p.  91),  it  will  be  seen  with  what 
grace  and  artistic  excellence  of  design  and  with  what 
restraint  the  French  woodcarvers  utilised  the  running 
ribbon.  The  ribbon  pattern  has  been  variously  used 
by  designers  of  furniture  ; it  appears  in  Chippendale’s 
chair-backs,  where  it  almost  exceeds  the  limitations  of 
the  technique  of  woodcarving. 

Art  in  the  early  days  of  Charles  I.  was  undimmed. 
The  tapestry  factory  at  Mortlake,  established  by 
James  I.,  was  further  encouraged  by  the  “ White 
King.”  He  took  a great  and  a personal  interest  in 
all  matters  relating  to  art.  Under  his  auspices  the 
cartoons  of  Raphael  were  brought  to  England  to 
foster  the  manufacture  of  tapestry.  He  gave  his 
patronage  to  foreign  artists  and  to  foreign  craftsmen, 
and  in  every  way  attempted  to  bring  English  art 
workers  into  line  with  their  contemporaries  on  the 
Continent.  Vandyck  came  over  to  become  “ Principal 
painter  of  Their  Majesties  at  St.  James’s,”  keeping 
open  table  at  Blackfriars  and  living  in  almost  regal 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN 


93 


style.  His  grace  and  distinction  and  the  happy 
circumstance  of  his  particular  style  being  coincident 
with  the  most  picturesque  period  in  English  costume, 
have  won  him  a place  among 
the  world’s  great  painters.  Fine 
portraits,  at  Windsor  and  at 
Madrid,  at  Dresden  and  at 
the  Pitti  Palace,  at  the  Louvre 
and  in  the  Hermitage  at  Peters- 
burg, testify  to  the  European 
fame  of  the  painter’s  brilliant 
gallery  representing  the  finest 
flower  of  the  English  aristo- 
cracy, prelates,  statesmen,  cour- 
tiers and  beautiful  women  that 
were  gathered  together  at  the 
Court  of  Charles  I.  and  his 
Queen  Henrietta  Maria. 

In  Early  Stuart  days  the 
influence  of  Inigo  Jones,  the 
Surveyor  of  Works  to  Charles 
I.,  made  itself  felt  in  woodwork 
and  interior  decorations.  He 
was  possessed  with  a great  love 

^ ^ OAK  CHAIR. 

and  reverence  for  the  classic-  charles  i.  period. 

ism  of  Italy,  and  introduced  of  Thomas  Wenlwortb, 

into  his  banqueting  hall  ^t 

Whitehall  fnow  the  United  {Victoria  and  Albert 

. ^ Mnsetmi.) 

Service  Museum),  and  St.  Paul’s, 

Covent  Garden,  a chaster  style,  which  was  taken  up 
by  the  designers  of  furniture,  who  began  to  abandon 
the  misguided  use  of  ornament  of  later  Elizabethan 


94  CHATS  OA  OLD  FURNITURE 

days.  In  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  is  an  oak 
chair  with  the  arms  of  Thomas  Wentworth,  first 
Earl  of  Stafford,  whiclr,  in  addition  to  its  historic 


ITALIAN  CHAIR,  ABOUT  162O. 

Thence  introduced  into  England. 

[Victoria  and  Albert  Mtisenni.) 

interest,  is  a fine  example  of  the  chair  of  the  period 
of  Charles  I.  (illustrated  p.  93). 

It  is  certain  that  the  best  specimens  of  Jacobean 
furniture  of  this  period,  with  their  refined  lines  and 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN 


95 


well-balanced  proportions,  are  suggestive  of  the 
stately  diction  of  Clarendon  or  the  well-turned  lyrics 
of  Herrick. 

In  the  illustration  of  a sixteenth-century  chair  in 
common  use  in  Italy,  it  will 
be  seen  to  what  source  the 
Jacobean  woodworkers  looked 
for  inspiration.  The  fine, 
high-backed  oak  Stuart  chair, 
elaborately  carved  with  bold 
shell  and  scroll  foliage,  hav- 
ing carved  supports,  stuffed 
upholstered  seats,  and  loose 
cushion  covered  in  old  Spanish 
silk  damask,  is  a highly  in- 
teresting example.  It  was 
long  in  the  possession  of  the 
Stuart  MacDonald  family,  and 
is  believed  to  have  belonged 
to  Charles  I. 


By  permission  of 

The  gate-leg  table,  some-  Hampton  son 

of  as  Crom-  high-back  oak  chair. 

EARLY  JACOBEAN. 


Elaborately  carved  with  shell 
and  scroll  foliage. 


times  spoken  oi  as 
wellian,  belongs  to  this  Middle 
Jacobean  style.  It  cannot  be 

said  with  any  degree  of  accu-  (Formerly  in  the  Stuart  MacDonald 
racy  that  in  the  Commonwealth  session  of  King  charies  i.) 
days  a special  style  of  furniture 

was  developed.  From  all  evidence  it  would  seem 
that  the  manufacture  of  domestic  furniture  went  on 
in  much  the  same  manner  under  Cromwell  as  under 
Charles.  Iconoclasts  as  were  the  Puritans,  it  is 
doubtful  whether  they  extended  their  work  of  de- 


96 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


struction  to  articles  in  general  use.  The  bigot  had 
“ no  starch  in  his  linen,  no  gay  furniture  in  his 
house.”  Obviously  the  Civil  War  very  largely  inter- 
fered with  the  encouragement  and  growth  of  the  fine 
arts,  but  when  furniture  had  to  be  made  there  is  no 
doubt  the  Roundhead  cabinetmaker  and  the  Ana- 
baptist carpenter  produced  as  good  joinery  and 
turning  as  they  did  before  Charles  made  his  historic 
descent  upon  the  House  in  his  attempt  to  arrest  the 
five  members. 

There  is  a style  of  chair,  probably  imported  from 
Holland,  with  leather  back  and  leather  seat  which  is 
termed  “ Cromwellian,”  probably  on  account  of  its 
severe  lines,  but  there  is  no  direct  evidence  that  this 
style  was  peculiarly  of  Commonwealth  usage.  The 
illustration  (p.  97)  gives  the  type  of  chair,  but  the 
covering  is  modern. 

That  Cromwell  himself  had  no  dislike  for  the  fine 
arts  is  proved  by  his  care  of  the  Raphael  cartoons, 
and  we  are  enabled  to  reproduce  an  illustration  of 
a fine  old  ebony  cabinet  with  moulded  front,  fitted 
with  numerous  drawers,  which  was  formerly  the 
property  of  Oliver  Cromwell.  It  was  at  Olivers 
Stanway,  once  the  residence  of  the  Eldred  family. 
The  stand  is  carved  with  shells  and  scrolls,  and  the 
scroll-shaped  legs  are  enriched  with  carved  female 
figures,  the  entire  stand  being  gilded.  This  piece  is 
most  probably  of  Italian  workmanship,  and  was  of 
course  made  long  before  the  Protector’s  day,  showing 
marked  characteristics  of  Renaissance  style. 

The  carved  oak  cradle  (p.  107),  with  the  letters 
“G.  B.  M.  B.”  on  one  side,  and  “October,  14  dai,”  on 


JACOBEAN  CHAIR,  CANE  BACK  CROMWELLIAN  CHAIR, 

ARMCHAIR.  DATED  1623.  ARMCHAIR.  WITH  INLAID  BACK. 

JACOBEAN  CHAIRS. 

{By  fermission  of  T.  E.  Price  Stretche,  Esq.) 

7 


;| 


“J 


‘7*’.  -.f. 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN  99 

the  other,  and  bearing  the  date  1641,  shows  the  type  of 
piece  in  common  use.  It  is  interesting  to  the  collector 
to  make  a note  of  the  turned  knob  of  wood  so  often 


By  permission  oy 
Messrs.  Hampion  &■  Sons, 

EBONY  CABINET. 

On  stand  gilded  and  richly  carved. 

FORMERLY  THE  PROPERTY  OF  OLIVER  CROMWELL. 

(From  Olivers  Stanway,  at  one  time  the  seat  of  the 
Eldred  family.) 


found  on  doors  and  as  drawer  handles  on  un- 
touched old  specimens  of  this  period,  but  very 
frequently  removed  by  dealers  and  replaced  by  metal 


100 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


handles  of  varying  styles,  all  of  which  may  be  pro- 
cured by  the  dozen  in  Tottenham  Court  Road,  coarse 
replicas  of  old  designs.  Another  point  worthy  of 
attention  is  the  wooden  peg  in  the  joinery,  securing 
the  tenon  into  the  mortice,  which  is  visible  in  old 
pieces.  It  will  be  noticed  in  several  places  in  this 
cradle.  In  modern  imitations,  unless  very  thought- 
fully reproduced,  these  oaken  pegs  are  not  visible. 

In  the  page  of  Jacobean  chairs  showing  the  various 
styles,  the  more  severe  piece,  dated  1623,  is  Early 
Jacobean,  and  the  fine  unrestored  armchair  of  slightly 
later  date  shows  in  the  stretcher  the  wear  given  by 
the  feet  of  the  sitters.  It  is  an  interesting  piece  ; the 
stiles  in  the  back  are  inlaid  with  pearwood  and  ebony. 
The  other  armchair  with  its  cane  panels  in  back  is  of 
later  Stuart  days.  It  shows  the  transitional  stage 
between  the  scrolled-arm  type  of  chair,  wholly  of 
wood,  and  the  more  elaborate  type  (illustrated  p.  123) 
of  the  James  II.  period. 

In  addition  to  the  finer  pieces  of  seventeenth- 
century  furniture  to  be  found  in  the  seats  of  the 
nobility,  such  as  at  Penshurst,  or  in  the  manor  houses 
and  homes  of  the  squires  and  smaller  landowners, 
there  was  much  furniture  of  a particularly  good 
design  in  use  at  farmsteads  from  one  end  of  the 
country  to  the  other,  in  days  when  a prosperous 
class  of  yeoman  followed  the  tastes  of  their  richer 
neighbours.  This  farmhouse  furniture  is  nowadays 
much  sought  after.  It  was  of  local  manufacture,  and 
is  distinctly  English  in  its  character.  Oak  dressers 
either  plain  or  carved,  were  made  not  only  in  Wales 
— ‘'Welsh  Dressers”  having  become  almost  a trade 


JACOBEAN  CARVED  OAK  CHAIRS. 

Yorkshire,  about  1640.  Derbyshire  ; early 

seventeenth  century. 

{Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.) 


By  permissron  oj  the 

Rt.  Hon.  Sir  Spenctr  Ponsonby-Fane,  G.C.B.,  /S.O. 

JACOBEAN  OAK  CUPBOARD.  ABOUT  162O. 


r 


.1 


i 


,/ 


J.- 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN 


103 


term — but  in  various  parts  of  England,  in  Yorkshire, 
in  Derbyshire,  in  Sussex,  and  in  Suffolk.  They  are 
usually  fitted  with  two  or  three  open  shelves,  and 
sometimes  with  cupboards  on  each  side.  The  better 
preserved  specimens  have  still  their  old  drop-handles 
and  hinges  of  brass.  It  is  not  easy  to  procure  fine 
examples  nowadays,  as  it  became  fashionable  two 
or  three  years  ago  to  collect  these,  and  in  addition 
to  oak  dressers  from  the  farmhouses  of  Normandy, 
equally  old  and  quaint,  which  were  imported  to 
supply  a popular  demand,  a great  number  of  modern 
imitations  were  made  up  from  old  wood — church 
pews  largely  forming  the  framework  of  the  dressers, 
which  were  not  difficult  to  imitate  successfully. 

The  particular  form  of  chair  known  as  the  “ York- 
shire chair”  is  of  the  same  period.  Certain  localities 
seem  to  have  produced  peculiar  types  of  chairs  which 
local  makers  made  in  great  numbers.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  even  in  these  conditions,  with  a con- 
tinuous manufacture  going  on,  the  patterns  were  not 
exact  duplicates  of  each  other,  as  are  the  machine- 
made  chairs  turned  out  of  a modern  factory,  where  the 
maker  has  no  opportunity  to  introduce  any  personal 
touches,  but  has  to  obey  the  iron  law  of  his  machine. 

As  a passing  hint  to  collectors  of  old  oak  furniture, 
it  may  be  observed  that  it  very  rarely  happens  that 
two  chairs  can  be  found  together  of  the  same  design. 
There  may  be  a great  similarity  of  ornament  and  a 
particularly  striking  resemblance,  but  the  chair  with 
its  twin  companion  beside  it  suggests  that  one,  if  not 
both,  are  spurious.  The  same  peculiarity  is  exhibited 
in  old  brass  candlesticks,  and  especially  the  old  Dutch 


104 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


brass  with  circular  platform  in  middle  of  candlestick. 
One  may  handle  fifty  without  finding  two  that  are 
turned  with  precisely  the  same  form  of  ornament. 

The  usual  feature  of  the  chair  which  is  termed 
“Yorkshire”  is  that  it  has  an  open  back  in  the  form 
of  an  arcade,  or  a back  formed  with  two  crescent- 
shaped cross-rails,  the  decorations  of  the  back  usually 
bearing  acorn-shaped  knobs  either  at  the  top  of  the 
rail  or  as  pendants.  This  type  is  not  confined  to 
Yorkshire,  as  they  have  frequent!}’  been  found  in 
Derbyshire,  in  Oxfordshire,  and  in  Worcestershire, 
and  a similar  variety  may  be  found  in  old  farm- 
houses in  East  Anglia. 

In  the  illustration  of  the  two  oak  chairs  (p.  105),  the 
one  with  arms  is  of  the  Charles  I.  period,  the  other  is 
later  and  belongs  to  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century. 

The  Jacobean  oak  cupboard  (illustrated  p.  loi)  is 
in  date  about  1620.  At  the  side  there  are  perfora- 
tions to  admit  air,  which  shows  that  it  was  used 
as  a butter  cupboard.  The  doors  have  an  incised 
decoration  of  conventional  design.  The  lower  part 
is  carved  in  style  unmistakably  Jacobean  in  nature. 
The  pattern  on  the  two  u[3rights  at  the  top  is  re- 
peatedly found  in  pieces  evidently  designed  locally 
for  use  in  farmhouses. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  hope  that  enough  has  been 
said  concerning  Jacobean  furniture  of  the  early  and 
middle  seventeenth  century  to  show  that  it  possesses 
a peculiar  charm  and  simplicity  in  the  lines  of  its 
construction,  which  make  it  a very  pleasing  study  to 
the  earnest  collector  who  wishes  to  procure  a few 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN 


105 


genuine  specimens  of  old  furniture,  which,  while 
being  excellent  in  artistic  feeling,  are  not  unprocurable 
by  reason  of  their  rarity  and  excessive  cost.  It  should 
be  within  the  power  of  the  careful  collector,  after 
following  the  hints  in  this  volume,  and  after  examin- 


By  fiermissioji  of 
Messrs.  Fenton  & Sons. 


JACOBEAN  OAK  CHAIRS. 

Armchair,  time  of  Charles  1.  Yorkshire  chair. 

Late  seventeenth  century. 

ing  well-selected  examples  in  such  a collection  as  that 
at  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum,  to  obtain,  without 
unreasonable  expenditure,  after  patient  search,  one 
or  two  Jacobean  pieces  of  undoubted  authenticity. 


106 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


RECENT  SALE  PRICES.^ 

£ s.  d. 

Cabinet,  Jacobean  oak,  with  two  drawers, 
and  folding  doors  below  enclosing 
drawers,  decorated  with  rectangular 
panels  in  relief,  inlaid  in  ebony  and 
ivory,  and  with  baluster  colunrins  at 
the  side — 48  in.  high,  46  in.  wide. 

Christie,  November  27,  1903  . . 44  2 o 

Cabinet,  Jacobean  black  oak,  5 ft.  wide  by 
6 ft.  2 in.  high,  fitted  with  cupboards 
above  and  below,  with  sunk  panelled 
folding  doors,  carved  with  busts  of 
warriors  in  high  relief,  the  pilasters 
carved  with  mask  heads  and  caryatid 
figures,  the  whole  carved  with  floral 
scrolls  and  other  devices.  Capes, 

Dunn  & Pilcher,  Manchester,  De- 
cember 9,  1903  . . . . 57  o o 

Chairs,  set  of  three  Jacobean  oak,  with 
canework  seats,  and  panels  in  the 
backs,  the  borders  carved  with  scrolls, 
and  on  scroll  legs  with  stretchers. 

Christie,  January  29,  1904  . . 52  10  O 

Table,  Cromwell,  oak,  on  spiral  legs. 

Dowell,  Edinburgh,  March  12,  1904  ii  06 
Elbow-chair,  oak,  Scotch,  back  having 
carved  wheel,  “ A.  R.,  1663.”  Dowell, 

Edinburgh,  March  12,  1904  . . 60  18  o 

" By  the  kindness  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Comioisseiif 
these  items  are  given  from  their  useful  monthly  publication, 
Auction  Sale  Prices. 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN 


107 


Cabinet,  Jacobean  oak,  with  drawer  and 
folding  doors  below,  with-  moulded 
retangular  panels  and  balusters  in 
relief,  50  in.  high,  46  in.  wide. 

Christie,  July  i,  1904  . . . 35  14  o 


CRADLE,  TIME  OF  CHART.ES  I. 

CARVED  OAK;  WITH  LETTERS  G.  B.  M.  B.  DATED  164I. 
( Victoria  and  Albert  Mnseuin.) 


IV 

STUART  OR 
JACOBEAN. 

LATE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 


iAfle^'  picture  by 
Caspar  Netscher  ) 

INTERIOR  OF  DUTCH  HOUSE. 
LATTER  HALF  OF  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 


IV 

STUART  OR  JACOBEAN.  LATE  SEVENTEENTH 
CENTURY 


Charles  II.  ...  1660-1685. 

James  II 1685-1688. 

William  and  Mary  . 1689-1694. 

William  ....  1694-1702. 

Sir  Christopher  Wren  (1632- 

1723). 

Grinling  Gibbons  (1648-1726). 
1660.  Bombay  became  a British 
possession.  Importation  of 
Indo-Portuguese  furniture. 


1666.  Great  Fire  in  London. 
Much  valuable  furniture 
destroyed. 

1675-1710.  St.  Paul’s  Cathedral 
built  under  Wren’s  direc- 
tion. 

1685.  Edict  of  Nantes  revoked. 
Spitalfields’  silk  industry 
founded  by  French  refu- 
gees. 


After  the  Civil  War,  when  Charles  II.  came  into  his 
own  again,  the  furniture  of  the  Restoration  period 

III 


112  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 

most  certainly  took  its  colour  from  the  gay  Court  with 
which  the  Merry  Monarch  surrounded  himself.  The 


By  permission  of  the 
proprietors  oj  the  “ Connoisseur." 

CABINET  OF  THE  TIME  OF  CHARLES  IT. 

With  exterior  finely  decorated  with  needlework. 


cabinet  which  we  reproduce  has  the  royal  arms 
embroidered  on  the  cover,  and  is  a beautiful  example 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN  113 

of  intricate  cabinetmaking.  The  surface  of  the  piece 
is  entirely  covered  with  needlework.  On  the  front 


By  pertnisstun  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  ‘'Connoisseur." 

CABINET  OF  THE  TIME  OF  CHARLES  II. 

Showing  interior  and  nest  of  drawers 


stand  a cavalier  and  lady,  hand-in-hand.  On  the 
side  panel  a cavalier  is  leading  a lady  on  horseback. 


114  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


On  the  back  a man  drives  a laden  camel,  and  on 
another  panel  is  shown  the  traveller  being  received 
by  an  old  man  in  the  grounds  of  the  same  castle 
which  appears  all  through  the  scenes.  This  suggests 
the  love-story  of  some  cavalier  and  his  lady.  The 
casket  is  worthy  to  have  held  the  love-letters  of  the 
Chevalier  Grammont  to  La  Belle  Hamilton. 

As  is  usual  in  pieces  of  this  nature,  the  cabinet 
contains  many  artfully  devised  hiding  places.  A 
tiny  spring  behind  the  lock  reveals  one  secret  drawer, 
and  another  is  hidden  beneath  the  inkwell.  There 
are  in  all  five  of  such  secret  compartments — or  rather 
five  of  them  have  been  at  present  discovered — there 
may  be  more.  The  illustration  of  the  cabinet  open 
shows  what  a nest  of  drawers  it  holds. 

In  the  days  of  plots,  when  Titus  Oates  set  half  the 
nation  by  the  ears,  when  James  solemnly  warned 
the  merry  Charles  of  plots  against  his  life,  pro- 
voking the  cynical  retort,  “ They  will  never  kill  me, 
James,  to  make  you  king,”  secret  drawers  were  no 
doubt  a necessity  to  a fashionable  cabinet. 

Catherine  of  Braganza,  his  queen,  brought  with  her 
from  Portugal  many  sumptuous  fashions  in  furniture, 
notably  cabinets  and  chairs  of  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
workmanship.  The  cavaliers  scattered  by  the  Civil 
War  returned,  and  as  in  their  enforced  exile  on  the 
Continent  they  had  cultivated  foreign  tastes,  it  was 
only  natural  that  Dutch,  French,  and  Italian  work 
found  its  way  to  this  country  and  effected  the 
character  of  the  early  furniture  of  the  Charles  II. 
period.  From  Portugal  came  the  high-backed  chair, 
havinp;  the  back  and  the  seat  of  leather  cut  with  fine 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN  115 


design,  and  coloured  or  gilded.  This  leather  work 
is  of  exquisite  character,  and  we  reproduce  a portion 
of  a Portuguese  chair-back  of  this  period  to  show  the 
artistic  excellence  of  the  design.  With  Catherine  of 
Braganza  came  the  marriage  dower  of  Bombay,  and 
from  India,  where  the  set- 
tlement of  Goa  had  been 
Portuguese  for  centuries, 
were  sent  to  Europe  the 
carved  chairs  in  ebony, 
inlaid  in  ivory,  made 
by  the  native  workmen 
from  Portuguese  and 
Italian  models,  but  en- 
riched with  pierced  carv- 
ing and  intricate  inlay 
of  ivory  in  a manner 
which  only  an  Oriental 
craftsman  can  produce. 

Having  become  fashion- 
able in  Portugal,  they 
made  their  appearance 
in  England,  and  rapidly 
became  popular.  At 
Penshurst  Place  there 
are  several  fine  speci- 
mens of  this  Indo-Portu- 
guese  work,  with  the 

spindles  of  the  chair-  stamped  leather,  studded  with  brass  bosses. 

backs  of  carved  ivory  ; and  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum 
at  Oxford  there  is  the  well-known  chair  which  was 
presented  by  Charles  II.  to  Elias  Ashmole. 


By  permission  o/ 

Messrs.  Hampton  &•  Sons. 


PORTUGUESE  HIGH-BACK  CHAIR. 
Seat  and  back  formed  of  two  panels  of  old 


116  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


Both  in  this  later  Stuart  period  and  in  the  days  of 
the  first  Charles  inlay  was  considerably  used  to 
heighten  the  carved  designs  on  oak  tables,  chairs, 
and  cabinets.  The  growth  of  commerce  was  respon- 
sible for  the  introduction  of  many  varieties  of  foreign 
woods,  which  were  used  to  produce  finer  effects  in 
marquetry  than  the  rude  inlay  of  Elizabethan  days. 

The  Frontispiece  to  this  volume  represents  a very 
handsome  cabinet  of  English  workmanship,  inlaid 
with  ivory  and  mother-of-pearl.  It  is  an  unusually 
fine  example  of  the  middle  seventeenth  century,  and 
bears  the  date  1653,  the  year  when  Cromwell  forcibly 
dissolved  the  Rump  Parliament  and  was  declared 
“ Lord  Protector  of  the  Commonwealth.” 

Up  till  now  oak— the  hard,  tough,  English  variety, 
and  not  the  more  modern  Baltic  oak  or  American 
varieties  now  used — was  the  material  for  the  tool  of 
the  carver  to  work  upon.  With  the  introduction  of 
more  flowing  lines  and  curves,  a wealth  of  detail,  it 
is  not  unnatural  to  find  that  softer  woods  began  to 
find  favour  as  more  suitable  to  the  new  decorations. 
The  age  of  walnut  was  approaching  when,  under 
William  the  Dutchman,  and  in  the  days  of  Queen 
Anne,  a newer  style  of  furniture  was  to  arise,  made  by 
craftsmen  trained  in  the  precepts  of  Grinling  Gibbons 
and  following  the  conceptions  of  Sir  Christopher 
Wren.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  Italy  the 
softer  woods,  such  as  lime,  willow,  sycamore,  chestnut, 
walnut,  and  cypress,  had  long  been  used  for  the 
delicate  carving  during  the  height  of  the  Renaissance 
and  succeeding  period,  and  in  France  and  Spain 
chestnut  and  walnut  were  favourite  woods. 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN  117 

In  the  central  panel  of  the  Restoration  chair-back, 
canework  began  to  be  used  instead  of  the  Early 
Jacobean  carving.  Cane  seats  were  frequent,  and 
loose  cushions,  attached  by  means  of  strings,  covered 


(Height,  3 ft.  3 in.  ; width,  3 ft-  i depth,  i ft.  10  in.) 


these  cane  panels  and  seats.  The  illustration  (p.  122) 
shows  a Jacobean  chair  of  this  period. 

Belonging  to  these  later  Jacobean  days  are  chests 
of  drawers  of  oak  with  finely  panelled  fronts.  We 
illustrate  two  specimens,  showing  the  old  brass 


118 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


metal  work  and  the  drop-handles.  They  are  usually 
in  two  parts,  and  are  very  deep  from  back  to  front. 
These  are  two  typical  examples  of  this  kind  of  furni- 
ture, which  was  in  general  use  up  to  the  days  of 
Queen  Anne,  when  pieces  are  frequently  found 
supported  on  a stand. 

In  the  picture  by  Caspar  Netscher,  showing  a 
Dutch  lady  at  her  toilet,  a good  idea  is  conveyed  of 
the  kind  of  chair  in  use  in  Holland  in  the  latter  half 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  upholstered  in  brocade, 
and  the  rich  tapestry  tablecloth  is  a noticeable 
feature. 

Before  entering  upon  the  last  phase  of  Stuart  fur- 
niture, and  leaving  the  days  of  Jacobean  oak  with  its 
fine  carving  and  handsome  appearance — the  careful 
result  of  selecting  the  timber  and  splitting  it  to  show 
the  fine  figure  of  the  wood — the  attention  of  the  reader 
should  be  drawn  to  the  fact  that  the  appearance  of 
the  surface  of  furniture  made  subsequent  to  this 
period  begins  to  approach  the  results  of  the  modern 
cabinetmaker  with  his  polishes  and  spirit  varnishes 
and  highly  glazed  panels  and  table  tops.  The  lover 
of  old  oak  abominates  varnish.  The  Elizabethan 
and  Jacobean  carved  oak  furniture  received  only 
a preliminary  coat  of  dark  varnish  in  its  early 
days,  mixed  with  oil  and  not  spirit,  which  sank  into 
the  wood  and  was  not  a surface  polish,  and  was 
probably  used  to  preserve  the  wood.  These  old 
pieces,  which  have  received  centuries  of  rubbing  with 
beeswax  and  oil,  have  resulted  in  producing  a rich, 
warm  tone  which  it  is  impossible  to  copy  by  any  of 
the  subtle  arts  known  to  the  modern  forger.  The 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN 


119 


collector  should  make  himself  thoroughly  familiar 
with  the  appearance  of  this  old  oak  by  a careful 
examination  of  museum  pieces,  which,  when  once 
seen,  cannot  easily  be  forgotten. 


CHEST  OF  DRAWERS,  OAK,  LATE  JACOBEAN. 

(Height,  4 ft.  4J  in. ; width,  3 ft.  2 in.  ; depth,  i ft.  10  in.) 

The  Italian  Renaissance  furniture  probably  received 
an  oil  varnish,  the  composition  of  which,  like  the 
varnish  employed  for  old  violins,  has  been  lost,  but 
after  centuries  of  careful  usage  and  polishing,  the 
result,  as  seen  in  the  fine  specimens  in  the  Victoria 


120  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


and  Albert  Museum,  is  to  give  to  them  the  appearance 
of  bronze. 

Tliere  is  little  doubt  that  the  Great  Fire,  which  did 
such  immense  destruction  in  London  in  1666,  in 
which  some  eighty-nine  churches  and  thirteen 

thousand  houses  were  de- 
molished, gave  a consider- 
able impetus  to  the  manu- 
facture of  furniture  in  the 
new  style.  It  is  not  a 
pleasing  reflection  to  think 
how  many  fine  pieces 
of  Elizabethan  and  early 
Jacobean  furniture  were 
consumed  in  the  flames, 
including  much  of  Inigo 
Jones’s  work. 

Under  the  genius  of  Sir 
Christopher  Wren  many 
of  the  city  churches  were 
rebuilt,  including  St.  Paul’s 
Cathedral ; and  Greenwich 
Hospital  and  Hampton 
Court  were  enlarged  ac- 
cording to  Wren’s  designs, 

CHARLES  II.  OAK  CHAIR.  co-operation  of 

scrolled  foiSge“siu«ed‘sLt''covero^^  the  master  woodcarver, 
will,  old  damask,  Grinling Gibboiis.  In  later 

Jacobean  days  a splendour  of  style  and  an  excellence 
of  workmanship  were  the  outcome  of  the  fine  achieve- 
ments in  interior  woodwork  by  Grinling  Gibbons  and 


By  perinissioii  of 
Messrs.  Hampton  Gr  Sons. 


the  school  he  founded. 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN 


121 


The  work  of  Grinling  Gibbons  consisted  of  most 
natural  chains  of  flowers  and  foliage,  fruit,  or  birds  or 
cherubs’  heads,  all  faithfully  reproduced  untrammelled 
by  convention.  St.  Paul’s  Cathedral,  Hampton 
Court,  Chatsworth,  and 
Petworth  House  all  con- 
tain work  by  him  of 
singular  beauty.  He 
trained  many  assistants 
to  help  him  to  carry 
on  his  work,  and  one 
of  them,  Selden,  lost  his 
life  in  endeavouring  to 
save  the  carved  room 
at  Petworth  from  a de- 
structive fire.  The  soft 
wood  of  the  lime  was 
his  favourite  for  detailed 
carving  ; for  church 
panelling  or  choir  stalls, 
such  as  at  St.  Pauls,  he 
employed  oak  ; in  his 
medallion  portraits  or 
figure  work  he  preferred  ^ s.,,,. 

pear  or  close-grained  c„aiu,es  ii.  open  higu-back  oak 
boxwood.  CHAIR. 

The  gradual  develop-  Finely  carved  legs  and  stretcher.  Stuffed 
^ ^ seat  covered  in  old  Spanish  silk  damask. 

ment  of  the  chair  in  the 

later  Stuart  days  in  the  direction  of  upholstered  seat 
will  be  noticed  in  the  specimens  which  are  given  as 
illustrations.  The  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes 
in  1685  by  Louis  XIV.  drove  some  thousands 


122  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


of  French  workmen — weavers,  glass-workers,  and 
cabinetmakers — to  this  country.  The  silk-weav- 
ing industry  established  by  them  at  Spitalfields 

was  one  of  the  results,  and 
silk  stuffs  and  brocades  were 
used  for  covering  the  seats 
and  backs  of  furniture.  At 
Hampton  Court  the  crystal 
glass  chandeliers  were  made 
by  French  workmen,  whom 
Wren  was  glad  to  employ 
to  assist  him  to  make  that 
palace  a worthy  rival  to 
Versailles. 

The  chair  here  illus- 
trated shows  the  commence- 
ment of  the  use  of  cane 
work  in  place  of  wood  for 
the  panel  in  back  and  for 
the  seat.  The  James  II. 
chair  illustrated  shows  the 
later  development  of  the 
cane-back.  The  William 
and  Mary  chair  (illustrated 
p.  125)  shows  how  the  cane- 
Messrs.  Harold  G.  Lamaster  &■  Co.  back  was  retained  later  than 
CHARLES  II.  CHAIR.  the  caiie-seat,  and  how  rich 

Cane  back  and  seat,  finely  carved  damask  WaS  employed  for 
legs  and  stretcher.  . 

the  upholstered  seat.  It  is 
interesting  to  see  how  the  stretcher,  which  in  earlier 
days  was  of  use  to  keep  the  feet  raised  from  a wet  or 
draughty  floor,  has  now  become  capable  of  elaborate 


By  permission  of 
Messrs.  Fejiten  &•  Sons. 

JAMES  II.  CHAIR. 

With  cane  back  and  seat,  and  finely  turned  legs  and  stretcher. 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN 


125 


ornamentation.  Genuine  examples  of  chairs  of 
Elizabethan  and  Early  Stuart  days  show  the  wear 
of  the  feet  of  the  sitters.  The  same  wear  is 
observable  in  the  lower  rail 
of  old  tables.  In  later 
Stuart  days  the  stretcher 
'has  left  its  place  at  the 
bottom,  between  the  two 
front  legs.  Since  its  use 
as  a foot-rest,  owing  to 
carpeted  floors,  is  gone,  it 
is  found  either  joining  the 
legs  diagonally,  or  higher 
up  as  an  ornament  with 
carved  front.  In  the  eigh- 
teenth century  it  has  al- 
most disappeared  alto- 
gether. 

Mirrors  began  to  take  a 
prominent  place  in  interior 
decoration.  The  house  of 
Nell  Gwynne  in  St.  James’s 
Square  had  one  room  en- 
tirely lined  with  glass 
mirrors.  Hampton  Court 
is  full  of  mirrors,  and  they 
are  arranged  with  consider- 
able skill.  By  an 
arrangement  the  mirror  in 

the  King’s  Writing  Closet  is  placed  at  such  an 
angle  that  the  reflection  of  the  whole  suite  of  rooms 
may  be  seen  in  it.  The  looking  glasses  made  in  this 


By  pennissioii  of 

Messrs.  Harold  G.  La}tcaster  &■  Co. 


WILLIAM  AND  MARY  CHAIR. 


126  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


country  in  the  late  seventeenth  and  early  eighteenth 
centuries  were  the  work  of  Venetian  and  French 
workmen.  The  plates  had  a bevel  of  an  inch  in 
width,  and  these  bevels  followed  the  shape  of  the 
frame,  whether  square  or  oval.  A factory  was  es- 
tablished near  Battersea  which  produced  some  fine 
work  of  this  nature.  It  will  be  noticed  by  the 
collector  who  is  observant  that  the  bevels  differ 
considerably  from  modern  bevels.  The  angle  is 
not  such  an  acute  one,  and  sometimes  the  edges 
are  double  bevelled.  Many  of  the  mirrors  of  the 
time  of  William  and  Mary  had  an  ornamented 
border  of  blue  glass.  Sometimes  the  mirror  was 
painted  with  festoons  of  flowers  and  with  birds  in 
French  manner.  In  imitation  of  Italian  style  the 
back  of  the  mirror,  in  examples  a little  later,  was 
worked  upon  in  the  style  of  intaglio,  or  gem  cutting, 
this  presenting  a dull  silver  surface  when  seen  from 
the  front. 

In  picture  frames,  in  chimneypieces,  or  in  mirror 
frames  the  school  of  Grinling  Gibbons  was  still  pre- 
eminent in  carving.  Now  and  again  are  found  traces 
of  Italian  or  Louis  XIV.  influence,  but  as  a whole  the 
English  carver  held  his  own,  and  the  traditions  of 
Grinling  Gibbons  were  maintained,  and  he  did  not 
easily  allow  himself  to  be  carried  away  by  foreign 
elaborations. 

When  William  of  Orange  came  over  in  1688  he 
brought  with  him  many  of  his  own  countrymen  as 
military  and  civil  advisers,  and  in  their  train  came 
artists  and  craftsmen,  who  introduced  Dutch  art  into 
England,  and  prepared  the  way  for  the  more  homely 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN 


127 


style  of  Queen  Anne.  Walnut  cabinets  inlaid  with 
various  woods,  and  with  ivory  squares  represent- 
ing miniature  Dutch  courtyards  in  the  recesses  of 
cabinets,  had  found  their  way  into  England.  With 
the  period  of  William  and  Mary  the  cabriole  leg  in 
chairs  and  in  tables  became  popular — at  first  an 
English  adaptation  of  Dutch  models — but  later  to 
develope  into  the  glorious  creations  of  the  age  of 
walnut. 

Blue  delft  jars  and  bowls,  some  especially  made  for 
William  and  Mary  and  bearing  the  Royal  arms  and 
the  cypher  “ W.  M.  R.”  and  the  Nassau  motto, 
main  tien-dray,  ’ still  to  be  seen  in  the  Queen’s 
Gallery  at  Hampton  Court,  were  introduced,  and  it 
became  fashionable  to  collect  china.  Consequently 
the  furniture  in  rooms  had  to  be  adapted  for  the 
arrangement  of  this  new  class  of  ornament,  and 
cabinets  were  largely  made  with  accommodation  to 
receive  vases  and  beakers  and  blue  bowls  on  their 
shelves.  The  earlier  form  have  straight  sides  ; but 
later,  especially  in  the  next  reign,  they  follow  French 
designs,  and  are  swollen  or  bombe  at  the  sides. 

With  William,  too,  came  over  the  plain  walnut 
card-table.  Clock  cases  of  the  style  termed  “ Grand- 
father” were  of  Dutch  origin.  The  seats  of  chairs 
were  shaped  and  removable.  The  Dutch  trade  with 
the  East  Indies  had  brought  Oriental  china  and  lac 
cabinets  into  Holland,  and  these,  with  the  coming  of 
William,  found  their  way  into  this  country.  Bureaux 
with  a number  of  secret  recesses  were  introduced, 
and  another  Dutch  importation  from  the  East  was 
the  now  celebrated  chair  or  table  leg  with  claw  and 


{Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.) 

with  the  furniture,  the  old  Chinese  symbol  of  a 
dragon’s  foot  holding  a pearl,  was  repeated  in  the 
furniture  by  Dutch  cabinetmakers.  Dutch  marquetry 
made  an  early  appearance  with  simple  ornamenta- 


128  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 

ball  foot.  This  came  directly  from  China,  and  as  in 
the  case  of  delft,  which  is  the  earthenware  replica  by 
the  Dutch  potter  of  fine  blue  porcelain  vases, 
from  Nankin  and  Canton,  where  the  Oriental  per- 
spective and  design  have  been  slavishly  copied,  so 


UPPER  PORTION  OF  CHAIR  RACK  OF  CUT  LEATHER. 
PORTUGUESE.  LATTER  PART  OF  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN 


129 


tion,  sometimes  enriched  by  ivory  or  mother-of-pearl 
inlay,  but  later  it  developed  into  flowing  floral  designs 
with  figures,  vases,  fruit,  butterflies,  and  elaborate 
scrolls  in  various  coloured  woods,  of  which  yellow 
was  the  predominant  colour. 

RECENT  SALE  PRICES.^ 

S.  d 

Armchair,  Charles  II.,  oak,  carved  with 
cherubs  supporting  crowns,  and  with 
turned  column  supports.  Christie, 

November  20,  1903  . . . .1546 

Chairs,  pair,  Charles  II.,  oak,  with  cane 
seats  and  oval  cane  panels  in  the 
backs,  spirally  turned  legs,  stretchers 
and  rails  at  the  back.  Christie, 

March  4,  1904 63  o o 

Armchair,  Charles  IL,  oak,  with  high 
back  carved  with  arabesque  foliage, 
with  lions’  masks  and  claw  legs. 

Christie,  March  29,  1904  . . . 63  o o 

Chairs,  pair,  nearly  similar,  carved  with 

foliage.  Christie,  March  29,  1904  . 39  18  o 

Armchair,  Charles  II.,  walnut-wood,  of 
Italian  design,  carved  with  masks, 
cane  seat  and  panel  in  back  ; and 
cushion,  covered  with  old  Flemish 
tapestry.  Christie,  March  4,  1904  . 77  14  o 

* By  the  kindness  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Connoisseur 
these  items  are  given  from  their  useful  monthly  publication, 
Auction  Sale  Prices. 


9 


130  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


Chairs,  three,  Charles  II.,  oak,  with  oval 
panels  of  canework  in  the  backs, 
the  borders  carved  with  foliage, 
flowers,  and  Amorini,and  surmounted 
by  busts.  Christie,  April  12,  1904  . 

Chairs,  set  of  twelve,  Charles  II.,  of  chest- 
nut-wood, with  high  backs  carved 
with  rosette  ornaments,  scroll  foliage, 
and  formal  blossoms,  on  cabriole  legs 
carved  with  flowers  and  shaped 
stretchers.  Christie,  July  i,  1904 
Chairs,  pair  of  chestnut-wood,  with  high 
backs  slightly  curved,  pierced  and 
carved  at  the  top,  and  each  inlaid 
with  two  cane  panels,  on  carved 
cabriole  legs  and  shaped  stretchers, 
temp.  James  II.  Christie,  June  2, 

1904 

Cabinet,  English  marquetry,  with  folding 
doors,  enclosing  twelve  drawers  and 
small  cupboard,  and  with  four  drawers 
below,  the  whole  elaborately  inlaid 
with  vases  of  tulips,  roses,  and  other 
flowers,  small  figures,  birds,  and  in- 
sects, on  a walnut-wood  ground,  69  in. 
high,  47  in.  wide,  temp.  William  III. 
Christie,  February  12,  1904 
Mirror,  in  case  of  old  English  marquetry, 
inlaid  with  large  flowers  and  foliage 
in  coloured  woods  and  ivory  on 
walnut-wood  ground,  32  in.  by  28  in.. 


£ s.  d. 


42  o o 


462  o o 


36  15  o 


105  o o 


STUART  OR  JACOBEAN 


131 

s.  d. 


temp.  William  III.  Christie,  Febru- 
ary 19,  1904  . . . . . 

Chairs,  set  of  six,  walnut-wood,  with 
high,  open  backs,  carved  with  foliage, 
the  centre  inlaid  in  marquetry,  on 
carved  cabriole  legs  and  eagles’  claw- 
and-ball  feet,  temp.  William  and  Mary. 
Christie,  June  2,  1904 

Chairs,  set  of  four,  of  similar  form,  open 
backs,  carved  with  shell,  and  gadroon 
ornament,  and  on  carved  cabriole 
legs  with  hoof  feet,  the  stretcher 
carved  with  a shell,  temp.  William 
and  Mary.  Christie,  June  2,  1904  . 

Cabinet,  William  and  Mary,  marquetry, 
veneered  with  walnut-wood,  decorated 
with  oval  and  shaped  panels,  inlaid, 
upon  ebony  field,  42  in.  wide.  Christie, 
March  18,  1904 

Cabinet  on  stand,  ebony,  Dutch,  seven- 
teenth century,  supported  by  six 
beaded  columns  with  stage  under  and 
mirror  panels  at  back,  the  upper  part 
composed  of  doors  carved  in  medal- 
lions ; the  centre  doors  enclose  an 
architectural  hall,  inlaid  in  ivory,  &c., 
with  gilt  columns  and  mirror  panels, 
and  fitted  with  secret  drawers,  5 ft. 
3 in.  wide,  6 ft.  6 in.  high  and  22  in. 
deep.  Jenner  & Dell,  Brighton, 
May  3,  1904 


43  3 o 

315  o o 

105  o o 

65  2 o 


100 


o o 


132  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


£ s.  d. 

Corner  cupboard,  Dutch  marquetry,  8 ft. 
high,  having  carved  crown-shaped 
cornice,  with  centre  vase,  four  doors, 
with  bow  fronts,  inlaid  with  flowers 
and  carved  raised  headings,  the 
interior  fitted.  C.  W.  Provis  & Son, 
Manchester,  May  9,  1904  . . . 32  o o 

Table,  Dutch  marquetry,  with  shaped 
front  and  two  drawers  inlaid  with 
sprays  of  flowers  in  coloured  woods 
and  ivory,  on  cabriole  legs,  32  in. 
wide.  Christie,  March  4,  1904.  . 37  16  o 


V 


QUEEN 

ANNE 

STYLE 


Q7teeii  Anne  IValmit  Chair  with  panelled  cane  hack. 


:J;y  . 


By  permission  o/  Messrs.  Hampton  &■  Sons 


QUEEN  ANNE  OAK  SETTI.E. 

Scrolled  arms,  panelled  back  and  loose  cushioned  seat. 
Width  6 feet. 


V 


Anne 


QUEEN  ANNE  STYLE 


1702-1714. 


1707.  Act  of  Union  between 
England  and  Scotland. 
First  United  Parliament  of 
Great  Britain  met. 

1713.  The  National  Debt  had 
risen  to  ;^38,ooo,ooo.. 


With  the  age  of  Queen  Anne  domestic  furniture 
departed  from  the  ornate  characteristics  which  had 
marked  previous  epochs.  The  tendency  in  English 
furniture  seems  to  have  made  towards  comfort  and 
homeliness.  The  English  home  may  not  have  con- 


136  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


tained  so  many  articles  of  luxury  then  as  does  the 
modern  house  with  its  artistic  embellishments,  and  a 
popular  taste  rapidly  ripening  into  a genuine  love  of 
the  fine  arts.  “ A modern  shopkeeper’s  house,”  says 
Lord  Macaulay,  “ is  as  well  furnished  as  the  house  of 
a considerable  merchant  in  Anne’s  reign.”  It  is  very 
doubtful  whether  this  statement  holds  good  with 
regard  to  the  days  of  Elizabeth  or  the  days  of  the 
early  Stuarts,  but  there  certainly  seems  to  have  been 
in  the  dawn  of  the  walnut  period  a curtailment  of 
luxurious  effects  that  might  well  tempt  a casual 
observer  to  generalise  in  the  belief  that  the  days  of 
Anne  spelt  dulness  in  art. 

The  settle,  the  illustration  of  which  is  given  (p.  149), 
bearing  the  date  1705,  the  year  after  Blenheim,  shows 
that  Jacobean  models  of  early  days  were  not  for- 
gotten. The  inlaid  borders  are  very  effective,  and 
there  is  nothing  vulgar  or  offensive  in  the  carving. 
It  is  simple  in  style  and  the  joinery  is  good.  A 
walnut  mirror,  carved  and  gilded  (illustrated  p.  137), 
exhibits  the  same  solidity.  There  is  nothing  to  show 
that  the  glorious  age  of  Louis  XIV.  had  produced 
the  most  sumptuous  and  richly  decorated  furniture 
the  modern  world  had  seen.  The  simplicity  of  this 
carved  mirror  frame  is  as  though  art  had  begun  and 
ended  in  England,  and  probably  it  is  this  insularity 
of  the  furniture  of  this  period,  and  the  almost  stub- 
born neglect  of  the  important  movements  going 
on  in  France  that  makes  the  Queen  Anne  style  of 
peculiar  interest. 

The  oak  desk  illustrated  (p.  139),  dated  1696,  is 
similar  to  the  one  at  Abbotsford,  in  which  Sir  Walter 


By  permission  of 

Messrs.  Harold  G.  Lancaster  &■  Co. 

QUEEN  ANNE  MIRROR  FRAME. 
WALNUT,  CARVED  AND  GILDED. 


QUEEN  ANNE  STYLE  139 

Scott  mislaid  his  manuscript  of  “ Waverley/’  where  it 
lay  among  his  fishing-tackle  for  eleven  years. 

Another  piece  of  the  same  period  is  the  cupboard 
with  carved  doors  and  drawers  beneath  (illustrated 
p.  140). 


OAK  DESK. 

WITH  INITIALS  “ L.  G.”  AND  DATED  1696. 

{From  the  collection  of  7\  E.  Price  Stretche,  EbijI) 

Some  pretty  effects  were  now  obtained  by  veneer- 
ing, which  was  largely  coming  into  practice.  The 
pieces  with  the  burr-walnut  panels,  marked  in  a series 
of  knot-like  rings,  are  especially  sought  after.  This 


140  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 

pattern  was  obtained  from  the  gnarled  roots  of  the 


Bv  per>!iission  of 

T.  E.  Price  Stretcke,  Esq- 

OAK  CUPBOARD.  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Metal  handles  of  drawers,  eighteenth  century. 

(Height  6 ft.  7 in.  ; width,  4 ft.  6 in.) 

walnut-tree,  and  applied  in  a decorative  manner  with 
excellent  result. 


Cabinet  closed  ; showing  fine  mottled  figure  of  Cabinet  open  ; showing  drop-down  front  and 

burr  walnut.  nest  of  drawers. 


r f 


j. 


. i 


DUTCH  MARQUETRY  CHAIR.  QUEEN  ANNE  CHAIR. 

By  permission  of  Messrs.  Hampton  Gr  Sons. 


QUEEN  ANNE  WALNUT  ARMCHAIR. 


BLACK  AND  GOLD  LAC  CHAIR. 


By  permission  of  Messrs.  U'arui^. 


-■T 


! 


QUEEN  ANNE  STYLE  145 

In  the  fine  cabinet,  the  illustration  of  which  is 
given  (p.  141),  the  style  is  typical  of  this  period. 
The  panels  of  the  doors  are  of  exquisite  finish,  and 
show  a beautiful  walnut  grain  of  peculiarly-pleasing 
mottled  appearance,  and  the  mellow  effect  which 
time  has  given  to  this  specimen  cannot  be  imitated 
with  any  degree  of  success  in  modern  replicas.  In 
the  illustration  showing  this  piece  when  open,  the 
rich  effect  of  the  walnut  in  the  middle  panel  may  be 
noticed ; the  contemporary  brass  handles  to  the 
nest  of  drawers  are  typical  of  this  style. 

In  chairs  and  in  tables  the  elegant  cabriole  and 
colt’s-foot  legs  were  now  commonly  adopted,  and 
apparently,  simple  as  is  the  construction,  it  is  only 
when  Queen  Anne  pieces  come  to  be  repaired  that  it 
is  found  how  expensive  an  undertaking  it  is,  owing 
to  their  ingenious  construction  and  the  patient  labour 
that  was  expended  upon  them,  to  produce  unpreten- 
tious and  harmonious  effects. 

The  assertively  English  spirit  which  was  the 
dominant  note  of  the  furniture  of  the  early  eighteenth 
century  continued  up  till  the  early  years  of  the  reign 
of  George  II.  During  this  period,  which  covers  half 
a century,  walnut  was  the  wood  mostly  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  furniture,  and  this  walnut  period 
shows  a quiet  dignity  of  style  and  a simple  propor- 
tion, reticently  elegant  and  inornate  without  being 
severe. 

The  Queen  Anne  oak  settle,  with  shaped  panelled 
back  and  scroll  arms,  which  appears  as  the  headpiece 
to  this  chapter,  is  especially  representative  of  the  kind 
of  piece  in  common  use  at  the  time  ; oak  was  still 

10 


146  CHATS  ON  OLD  FUKNITURE 


employed  in  furniture  of  this  nature.  The  legs  show 
the  newer  design,  which  was  already  departing  from 
the  elegant  turning  of  earlier  Jacobean  days. 

In  the  Queen  Anne  chair  which  is  illustrated  in  the 
group  of  chairs  of  this  period  (p.  143),  with  open  back 
and  carved  scroll  foliage,  the  cabriole  legs  are  finely 
carved  with  lion  masks  and  acanthus  leaf  ornament, 
on  lion’s  claw-and-ball  feet.  The  seat  is  removable, 
and  is  stuffed.  Queen  Anne  chairs  had  high  carved 
or  plain  splat  backs.  The  armchair  in  the  same 
group  shows  this  type  of  back.  The  Dutch  shell- 
pattern  often  appears  either  on  back  or  at  the  junc- 
ture of  the  leg  with  the  seat.  Chairs  decorated  in 
marquetry,  in  Dutch  fashion,  were  in  use  at  this 
period.  The  one  illustrated  with  the  two  above- 
mentioned  chairs  is  inlaid  with  birds  and  flowers, 
and  the  legs  are  cabriole.  The  seat  follows  the 
growing  usage  of  being  loose  and  stuffed. 

Dutch  marquetry  cabinets  on  stands,  with  straight 
uprights,  were  imported  and  became  a feature  in  the 
early  eighteenth  century  drawing-room  (see  illustra- 
tion, p.  147).  The  earlier  forms  had  straight  sides, 
but  later,  as  the  fashion  grew,  bureaux  and  large 
cabinets,  with  the  dimensions  of  a modern  wardrobe, 
had  taken  their  place,  with  boinbe  or  swelled  sides, 
and  profusely  decorated  in  marquetry,  with  vases 
and  tulips  and  unnamed  flowers  of  the  cabinet- 
maker’s invention,  birds,  butterflies,  and  elaborate 
scrollwork,  in  which  ivory  and  mother-of-pearl  were 
often  employed  as  an  inlay. 

The  stands  on  which  the  smaller  cabinets  stood 
were  turned  with  the  spiral  leg  of  Jacobean  days,  and 


QUEEN  ANNE  STYLE  147 


later  they  have  the  cabriole  leg^,  with  ball-and-claw 
or  club  feet.  Cabi- 
nets and  stands  are 
frequently  found 
together,  in  which 
the  one  is  much 
earlier  than  the 
other. 

Rich  damask  be- 
gan to  be  used  in 
the  furnishing  of 
hangings,  and  in 
some  of  the  palatial 
furniture  of  the 
period  the  looms 
of  Spitalfields  pro- 
duced the  cover- 
ings. In  Queen 
Anne’s  bedroom 
the  hangings  were 
of  rich  silk  velvet. 

Clocks  of  the 
variety  termed 
“ Gran  d fa  t h e r,” 
either  with  fine 
walnut  cases  or 
inlaid  with  mar- 
quetry, came  into 
more  general  use  in 


By  peratission  of 
Messrs.  Hampton  Or  Sons. 


the  days  of  Queen 
Anne.  An  elabo- 

rafinn  of  oarin' nrr  and  scrolled  foliage.  On  stand  with 

ration  OI  carving  turned  legs  and  stretcher. 


DUTCH  MARQUETRY  CABINET. 

Fitted  with  shelves.  Door  richly  inlaid  with 


148  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


on  grandfather  clock  cases 
as  a rule  is  to  be  regarded 
with  suspicion.  Plain  panels 
are  not  so  saleable  as  carved 
ones  ; the  want  is  supplied, 
and  many  fine  old  clock 
cases  are  spoiled  by  having 
the  touch  of  a modern  hand. 
The  clock  illustrated  is  an 
untouched  specimen.  The 
walnut  case  is  a fine  example 
of  Queen  Anne  marquetry 
work.  The  works  are  by 
Sam  Barrow,  Hermitage 
Bridge,  London.  The  steel 
dial  is  richly  mounted  with 
cupids,  masks,  and  scrolls  in 
chased  brass. 

Towards  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century  and  later, 
cabinets  of  Dutch  importa- 
tion, and  Japanese  or  Chinese 
in  origin,  were  extensively 
in  use.  In  smaller  numbers 
they  had,  without  doubt,  in 
the  days  of  William  and 
Mary,  been  introduced,  but  it 
was  not  until  the  commerce 
with  the  East  had  been 
well  established  that  they 
became  popular.  In  the 
cabinet  illustrated  (p.  150) 


QUEEN  ANNE  STYLE  149 


the  cabinet-work  is  English,  the  drawers  are  all 
dovetailed  in  the  English  manner,  but  the  lacquered 
doors  come  from  the  East.  It  is  an  especially 


Ry  permission  of  Messrs.  H'ctriH£'. 


QUEEN  ANNE  OAK  SETTLE.  DATED  I705. 

With  borders  in  marquetry. 

(Width,  5 ft.) 

interesting  example,  as  the  pagoda-like  super- 
structure is  not  often  found  complete. 

Lacquered  boxes  had  been  sent  home  from  the 


150  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 

East  by  English,  French,  and  Dutch  merchants,  for 
many  years,  and  with  characteristic  ingenuity  the 


By  permisswi  of 
Messrs.  Brown  &■  Bool. 


OLD  LAC  CABINET. 

ENGLISH  ; EARLY  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 


French  cabinetmakers  had  employed  these  as  panels 
for  their  furniture,  but  the  supply  not  being  sufficient 
they  had  attempted  a lacquer  of  their  own,  which  is 


151 


QUEEN  ANNE  STYLE 

dealt  with  in  a subsequent  chapter  on  Louis  XIV. 
furniture.  Dutch  lacquer-work  was  a similar  attempt 


LAC  CABINET.  MIDDLE  OF  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

(Height,  2 ft.  5 in. ; width,  2 ft.  SJ  in.  ; depth,  i ft.  6^  in.  ; height  of  stand,  2 ft.  9 in. 
[From  the  collection  of  IV.  G.  Honey,  Esq.,  Cork.) 

on  the  part  of  the  craftsman  of  Holland  to  equal  the 
Oriental  originals. 


152  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


In  the  early  eighteenth  century  the  English  crafts- 
man tried  his  skill  at  lacquered  furniture,  it  is  true 
not  with  very  successful  results,  but  it  is  interesting 
to  see  what  he  has  left  as  attempts.  The  illustration 
(p.  143)  of  a chair  in  black  and  gold  lac  is  of  English 
manufacture.  The  splat  back  and  the  cabriole  leg 
give  the  date,  and  the  specimen  is  a noteworthy 
example.  Another  piece  of  the  first  half  of  the 


eighteenth  cen- 
tury period  is  the 
lac  cabinet  illus- 
trated (p.  1 51). 

The  metal  hinges 
and  corners  of 
this  are  of  chased 
brass  and  of  Eng- 
lish or  Dutch 
w o r Iv  m a n s h i p . 
The  shape  and 
design  of  the 
drawer  handles 
are  frequently 
found  in  nests  of 


If'.  G.  Honey,  Esq.,  Cork. 

FRONT  OF  LAC  CABINET  (ILLUSTRATED), 


WITH  DOORS  CLOSED. 


drawers  of  this  period,  and  there  was  a singular  fond- 
ness shown  at  this  time  for  numbers  of  small  drawers 
and  pigeon-holes  in  furniture.  The  now  familiar 
bureau  with  bookcase  above,  and  drop-down,  sloping 
front  covering  drawers  and  recesses,  dates  from  this 
time.  The  escutcheon  of  the  lac  cabinet  is  illustrated 
in  detail  as  a tailpiece  to  this  chapter  to  show  the 
particular  style  of  work  found  on  the  locks  and  hinges 
and  drawer-handles  of  pieces  of  this  nature.  As  has 


QUEEN  ANNE  STYLE  153 

been  said  before,  it  is  especially  useful  to  the  collector 
to  make  himself  thoroughly  familiar  with  these  details 
of  the  various  periods. 

It  may  be  readily  imagined  that  at  a time  when 
cards  were  the  passion  of  everybody  in  society,  the 
card-table  became  a necessary  piece  of  furniture  in 
eighteenth-century  days,  just  before  the  dawn  of  the 
great  age  of  mahogany,  when  Chippendale,  and  the 
school  that  followed  him,  eagerly  worked  in  the  wood 
which  Raleigh  discovered.  They  produced  countless 
forms,  both  original  and  adapted  from  the  French, 
which  have  enriched  the  7'epevtoire  of  the  cabinet- 
maker and  which  have  brought  fame  to  the  man 
whose  designs  added  lustre  to  the  reputation  of 
English  furniture. 


RECENT  SALE  PRICES.^ 

£ s.  d. 

Chairs,  six,  mahogany,  single,  and  one 
armchair  to  match,  with  shaped  legs 
and  openwork  backs  (early  eigh- 
teenth century).  F.  W.  Kidd,  & 

Neale  & Son,  Nottingham,  November 

11,1903 25  4 o 

Chairs,  eight  Queen  Anne,  walnut-wood, 
with  high  backs,  on  slightly  cabriole 
legs,  with  stretchers.  Christie,  De- 
cember II,  1903  t . . . 33  12  o 

* By  the  kindness  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Connoisseur, 
these  items  are  given  from  their  useful  monthly  publication, 
Auction  Sale  Prices. 


154  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 

£ s.  cl. 

Armchair,  Queen  Anne,  large  walnut- 
wood,  carved  with  foliage,  the  arms 
terminating  in  masks,  on  carved 
cabriole  legs  and  lion’s-claw  feet. 

Christie,  March  29,  1904  . . . 50  8 o 

Cabinet,  Queen  Anne,  the  lower  part 
fitted  with  escritoire,  the  upper  part 
with  numerous  drawers,  shaped 
cornice  above,  3 ft.  6 in.  by  7 ft.  6 in. 

Puttick  & Simpson,  April  12,  1904  34  2 o 

Chairs,  four  Queen  Anne,  walnut-wood, 
with  interlaced  backs  carved  with 
rosettes  and  a shell  at  the  top,  on 
cabriole  legs  carved  with  shells  and 
foliage  ; and  a pair  of  chairs  made 
to  match.  Christie,  July  8,  1904  . 44  2 o 


II'.  G.  Honey  Esq.,  Cork. 

CHASED  BRASS  ESCUTCHEON  OF  LAC  CABINET  (ILI.USTRATED). 
(Width,  loi  in. ) 


VI 


FRENCH  FURNITURE. 
THE  PERIOD  OF 
LOUIS  XIV 


■I 


CASSETTE.  FRENCH  ; SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 
Containing  many  secret  drawers. 


VI 


FRENCH  FURNITURE.  THE  PERIOD  OF  LOUIS  XIV 


Louis  XIV.  (1643-1715),  cover- 
ing English  periods  of  Civil 
War,  Commonwealth, 
Charles  II.,  James  IL, 
William  and  Mary,  and 
Anne. 


1619-1683.  Colbert,  Minister  of 
Finance  and  patron  of  the 
arts. 

1661-1687.  Versailles  built. 

1662.  Gobelins  Tapestry  Works 
started  by  Colbert  ; Le  Brun 
first  director  (1662-1690). 

1664.  Royal  Academy  of  Paint- 
ing, Architecture,  and 
Sculpture  founded  by  Col- 
bert, to  which  designs  of 
furniture  were  admitted. 


In  order  to  arrive  at  a sense  of  proportion  as  to  the 
value  of  English  furniture  and  its  relation  to  con- 
temporary art  in  Europe,  it  is  necessary  to  pass  under 

157 


158  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


hasty  examination  the  movements  that  were  taking 
place  in  France  in  the  creation  of  a new  style  in 
furniture  under  the  impulses  of  the  epoch  of  the 
Grande  Monarqiie.  To  estimate  more  correctly  the 
styles  of  the  Early  Jacobean  and  of  the  later  English 
furniture  extending  to  the  days  of  Chippendale  and 
Sheraton,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  England 
was  not  always  so  insular  in  art  as  the  days  of  Queen 
Anne  would  seem  to  indicate.  It  is  impossible  for  the 
cabinetmakers  and  the  craftsmen  to  have  utterly 
ignored  the  splendours  of  France.  Louis  XIV.  had 
a long  and  eventful  reign,  which  extended  from  the 
days  when  Charles  I.  was  marshalling  his  forces  to 
engage  in  civil  war  with  the  Parliament  down  to  the 
closing  years  of  Queen  Anne.  During  his  minority 
it  cannot  be  said  that  Louis  XIV.  influenced  art  in 
furniture,  but  from  1661,  contemporary  with  Charles 
II.,  when  he  assumed  the  despotic  power  that  he 
exercised  for  half  a century,  his  love  of  sumptuousness, 
and  his  personal  supervision  of  the  etiquette  of  a 
formal  Court,  in  which  no  detail  was  omitted  to 
surround  royalty  with  magnificence,  made  him  the 
patron  of  the  fine  arts,  and  gave  his  Court  the  most 
splendid  prestige  in  Europe. 

As  a headpiece  to  this  chapter  we  give  a very  fine 
example  of  a cassette^  or  strong  box,  of  the  time  of 
Louis  XIV.  It  is  securely  bound  with  metal  bands 
of  exquisite  design.  The  interior  is  fitted  with  a 
number  of  secret  drawers. 

In  the  illustration  (p.  159)  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
chair  of  the  period  of  Louis  Treize  differed  in  no  great 
respects  from  the  furniture  under  the  early  Stuarts  in 


FRENCH  FURNITURE 


159 


this  country.  This  design  is  by  the  celebrated  Crispin 
de  Passe,  and  the  date  is  when  Charles  I.  raised  his 
standard  at  Nottingham,  a year  prior  to  the  birth  of 
Louis  XIV. 

During  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV., 
tables,  ar moires,  and  cabinets  were 
designed  on  architectural  princi- 
ples. Under  the  guiding  influence 
of  Colbert,  Minister  of  Finance, 
architects  and  cabinetmakers  were 
selected  to  design  furniture  for  the 
Tuileries,  the  Louvre,  and  Fon- 
tainebleau. In  the 
early  years  of  the 
reign  furniture  was 
made  with  severe 
lines,  but  gradually 
it  became  the  prac- 
tice to  fashion  larger 
pieces.  Immense 
tables  with  sumptu- 
ous decoration,  on 
gilded  clawfeet,and 
having  tops  inlaid 
with  pietra-dura  in- 
tended to  carry 
bronze  groups  and 
porphyry  vases,  chair  of  period  of  louis  xiii. 

were  made  at  the  designed  by  Crispin  de  passe,  1642. 

Gobelins  factory,  under  the  direction  of  the  celebrated 
Le  Brun.  This  artist  loved  grandeur  and  gorgeous- 
ness in  decoration,  and  in  accord  with  the  personal 


160  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


ideas  of  Louis  XIV.,  who  had  an  inordinate  love  for 
perfect  symmetry,  huge  pieces  of  furniture  were  built 
in  magnificent  manner  to  please  the  taste  of  the 
Grande  Mo7iarque.  Men  of  genius  were  employed  in 
the  manufacture  of  tapestries,  of  furniture,  and  of 
metal  mountings,  and  the  interior  decorations  of  the 
palaces  were  designed  in  harmony  with  the  furniture 
intended  for  use  therein. 

The  most  illustrious  among  the  cabinetmakers  was 
Andre  Charles  Boule,  who  was  made,  in  1673,  by 
letters  patent.  Premier  djeniste  de  la  maison  royale. 
The  work  of  this  artist  in  wood  has  attained  a world- 
wide celebrity,  and  his  name  even  has  been  corrupted 
into  “ buhl  to  denote  a particular  class  of  work 
which  he  perfected.  His  most  notable  productions 
are  the  finely  chased  ormolu,  in  which  he  was  an 
accomplished  worker,  and  the  inlay  of  tortoiseshell 
and  brass,  sometimes  varied  with  ebony  or  silver, 
which  have  remained  the  wonder  of  succeeding 
generations. 

Boule  was  born  in  1642,  and  lived  till  1732.  The 
first  Boule,  termed  “ Le  Pere^'  he  was  succeeded  by  no 
less  than  four  sons  and  nephews  of  the  same  name,  in 
addition  to  his  pupils  who  carried  on  his  traditions  at 
the  Boule  atelier,  and  a crowd  of  later  imitators,  even 
up  to  the  present  day,  have  followed  his  style  in  lavish 
decoration  without  being  possessed  of  his  skill. 

In  Italy  and  in  France  marquetry  of  considerable 
delicacy  and  of  fine  effect  had  been  produced  long 
before  the  epoch  of  Louis  XIV.,  but  it  was  Boule 
who  introduced  a novelty  into  marquetry  by  his 
veneered  work,  which  rapidly  grew  into  favour  till  it 


FRENCH  FURNITURE 


161 


developed  into  cruder  colouring  in  inlays  and  un- 
bridled licence  in  ornamentation,  to  which  its  origi- 
nator would  never  have  given  countenance. 

The  pieces  of  furniture  usually  associated  with  him 
are  massive  structures  of  ebony  with  their  surfaces 
covered  with  tortoiseshell,  in  which  are  inlaid 
arabesques,  scrolls,  and  foliage  in  thin  brass  or  other 
metal.  Upon  the  surface  of  this  metal  inlay  further 
ornamentation  was  chased  with  the  burin.  This 
alternation  of  tortoiseshell  and  brass  forms  a brilliant 
marquetry.  Into  the  chased  designs  on  the  metal  a 
black  enamel  was  introduced  to  heighten  the  effect, 
which  was  further  increased  by  portions  of  the  wood 
beneath  the  semi-transparent  tortoiseshell  being 
coloured  black  or  brown  or  red  ; sometimes  a bluish- 
green  was  used.  Later  imitators,  not  content  with  the 
beautiful  effect  of  tortoiseshell,  used  horn  in  parts, 
which  is  more  transparent,  and  they  did  not  fear  the 
garish  effect  of  blue  or  vermilion  underneath.  Boule’s 
creations,  set  in  massive  mounts  and  adornments  of 
masks  and  bas-reliefs,  cast  in  gilt-bronze  and  chased, 
were  pieces  of  furniture  of  unsurpassed  magnificence, 
and  especially  designed  for  the  mirrored  splendours 
of  the  salons  of  Versailles. 

In  boule-work  all  parts  of  the  marquetry  are  held 
down  by  glue  to  the  bed,  usually  of  oak,  the  metal 
being  occasionally  fastened  down  by  small  brass 
pins,  which  are  hammered  flat  and  chased  over  so 
as  to  be  imperceptible. 

In  order  to  economise  the  material,  Boule,  when 
his  marquetry  became  in  demand,  employed  a process 
which  led  to  the  use  of  the  technical  terms,  boule  and 


162  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 

cotmter-boule.  The  brass  and  the  tortoiseshell  were 
cut  into  thin  sheets.  A number  of  sheets  of  brass 
were  clamped  together  with  the  same  number  of 
sheets  of  tortoiseshell.  The  design  was  then  cut  out, 
the  result  being  that  each  sheet  of  tortoiseshell  had  a 
design  cut  out  of  it,  into  which  the  same  design  from 
one  of  the  sheets  of  brass  would  exactl)^  fit.  Similarly 
each  sheet  of  brass  had  a design  cut  out  of  it  into 
which  a corresponding  piece  of  tortoiseshell  would  fit. 
That  in  which  the  ground  is  of  tortoiseshell  and  the 
inlaid  portion  is  brass,  is  considered  the  better,  and  is 
called  boiile,  or  the  p7'emiere  par'tie.  That  in  which 
the  groundwork  is  brass  and  the  design  inlaid  is  of 
tortoiseshell,  is  called  coimter-boule  or  conti^e-partie. 
This  latter  is  used  for  side  panels. 

An  examination  of  the  specimens  preserved  in  the 
Louvre,  at  the  Jones  Bequest  at  the  Victoria  and 
Albert  Museum,  or  in  the  Wallace  Collection  will 
enable  the  student  to  see  more  readily  how  this 
practice  works  out  in  the  finished  result.  In  the 
illustration  (p.  163)  of  the  two  pedestals  the  effect  of 
the  employment  of  boule  and  countei'-boule  is  shown. 

Associated  with  Boule  is  Jean  Berain,  who  had  a 
fondness  for  the  Italian  style;  his  designs  are  more 
symmetrically  correct,  both  in  ornamental  detail  and 
in  architectural  proportion.  His  conceptions  are 
remarkable  for  their  fanciful  elaboration,  and  their 
wealth  of  profuse  scrollwork.  In  the  French  national 
collections  at  the  Louvre,  at  Versailles,  and  elsewhere 
there  are  many  beautiful  examples  of  his  chandeliers 
of  magnificent  carved  and  gilded  work.  The  freedom 
of  the  spiral  arms  and  complex  coils  he  introduced 


{a.)  id.) 

PEDESTALS  SHOWING  BOULE  AND  COUNTER-BOULE  WORK. 

{Wallace  Collection.) 


(a)  Boule  or 
premiere  partie. 


(b)  Counter- boule  or 
contre-partie. 


FRENCH  FURNITURE  165 

into  his  candelabra  have  never  been  equalled  as 
harmonious  portions  of  a grandly  conceived  scheme  of 
magnificent  interior  decoration,  to  which,  in  the  da\'s 


BOULE  CABINET,  OR  ARMOIRE. 

Valued  at  nearly  ;^i5,ooo. 
{Victoria  and  Albert  Musetwi.') 


of  Louis  XIV.,  so  much  artistic  talent  was  devoted. 

With  regard  to  the  value  of  some  of  the  specimens 
in  the  national  collections,  it  is  difficult  to  form  an 


166  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


estimate.  The  Boule  cabinet,  probably  designed  by 
Berain,  executed  by  Boule  for  Louis  XIV.  (illustrated 
p.  165)  would,  if  put  up  for  sale  at  Christie’s,  probably 
fetch  ;Ci 5,000.  This  piece  is  held  to  be  grander  in 
style  than  any  in  the  galleries  in  France.  At  the 
Wallace  Collection  there  are  examples  which  would 
bring  fabulous  sums  if  sold.  A cabinet  by  Boule, 
in  the  Jones  Bequest,  purchased  by  Mr.  Jones  for 
;C3,ooo  in  1881,  is  now  worth  three  times  that  sum. 

Upon  the  building,  decorating,  and  furnishing  of 
Versailles  Louis  XIV.  spent  over  five  hundred  million 
francs,  in  addition  to  which  there  was  the  army  of 
workmen  liable  to  statute  labour.  Some  twenty 
thousand  men  and  six  thousand  horses  were  em- 
ployed in  1684  at  the  different  parts  of  the  chateau 
and  park.  In  May,  1685,  there  wfre  no  less  than 
thirty-six  thousand  employed. 

The  illustrious  craftsmen  who  were  employed  upon 
the  magnificent  artistic  interior  decorations  have 
transmitted  their  names  to  posterity.  Berain, 
Lepautre,  Henri  de  Gissey,  are  the  best  known  of 
the  designers.  Among  the  painters  are  the  names  of 
Audran,  Baptiste,  Jouvenet,  Mignard,  and  the  best 
known  of  the  sculptors  are  Coustou  and  Van  Cleve. 
Of  the  woodcarvers,  metal-chasers,  locksmiths,  and 
gilders  Pierre  Taupin,  Ambroise  Duval,  Delobel,  and 
Goy  are  names  of  specialists  in  their  own  craft  who 
transformed  Versailles  from  a royal  hunting-box  into 
one  of  the  most  splendid  palaces  in  Europe. 


FKENCH  FURNITURE 


167 


RECENT  SALE  PRICES.’' 

£ s.  d. 

Commode,  Louis  XIV.,  of  inlaid  king- 
wood,  with  two  drawers,  mounted 
with  handles  and  masks  at  the 
corners  of  chased  ormolu,  and  sur- 
mounted by  a fleur  violette  marble 
slab,  52  in.  wide.  Christie,  January 

22,  1904 31  10  o 

Show-cabinet,  of  Louis  XIV.  design, 
inlaid  king-wood,  with  glazed  fold- 
ing doors,  ormolu  mounts,  chased 
and  surmounted  by  vases,  73  in. 
high,  46  in.  wide.  Christie,  April 

12,  1904 30  9 o 

Casket,  Louis  XIV.,  black  Boule,  inlaid 
with  Cupids,  vases  of  flowers  and 
scrolls,  and  fitted  with  four  tortoise- 
shell and  gold  picque  shell-shaped 
snuffboxes.  Christie,  April  19,  1904  73  10  o 
Commode,  Louis  XIV.,  Boule,  of  sarco- 
phagus form,  containing  two  drawers, 
at  either  corners  are  detached  cab- 
riole legs,  the  various  panels  are  in- 
laid with  brass  and  tortoiseshell, 
the  whole  is  mounted  with  ormolu, 
surmounted  by  a slab  of  veined 
marble,  49  in.  wide.  Christie,  May 
27,  1904 57  15  o 

^ By  the  kindness  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Connoisseur, 
these  items  are  reproduced  from  their  useful  monthly  publica- 
tion, Auction  Sale  Prices. 


I 


1 


VII 


FRENCH  FURNITURE* 
THE  PERIOD  OF 
LOUIS  XV 


169 


By  permission  of 
Messrs.  Foley  &•  Eassie. 


COMMODE,  BY  CRESSF.N  . 
(From  a drawing  by  Walter  Eassie. 
{IVa/lace  Collection.') 


VII 


FRENCH  FURNITURE.  THE  PERIOD  OF  LOUIS  XV 


Louis  XV.  . . . 1715-1774, 


Petit  Trianon  built  at  Versailles. 

Meissonier,  Director  of  Royal 
Factories  {1723-1774). 

Watteau  (1684-1721).  Pater 
(1695-1736). 

Lancret  (1690-1743).  Boucher 
(1704-1770). 

1751.  The  leading  ebenistes 
compelled  to  stamp  their 
work  with  their  names. 


Louis  XIV.  died  in  the  year  following  the  death  of 
Queen  Anne,  so  that  it  will  be  readily  seen  that 

171 


172  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


English  art  was  uninfluenced  by  France  in  the  days 
of  William  and  Mary,  and  how  insular  it  had  become 
under  Anne.  The  English  craftsman  was  not  fired 
by  new  impulses  from  France  during  such  an  out- 
burst of  decorative  splendour.  The  reign  of  Louis  XV. 
extends  from  George  I.  down  to  the  eleventh  year  of 
the  reign  of  George  III.,  which  year  saw  the  cargoes 
of  tea  flung  into  Boston  harbour  and  the  beginning 
of  the  war  with  America. 

In  glancing  at  the  Louis  Ouinze  style  it  will  be 
observed  how  readily  it  departed  from  the  studied 
magnificence  of  Louis  XIV.  In  attempting  elegance 
of  construction  and  the  elimination  of  much  that  was 
massive  and  cumbersome  in  the  former  style,  it 
developed  in  its  later  days  into  meaningless  ornament 
and  trivial  construction.  At  first  it  possessed  con- 
siderable grace,  but  towards  the  end  of  the  reign  the 
designs  ran  riot  in  rococo  details,  displaying  incon- 
gruous decoration. 

It  was  the  age  of  the  elegant  boudoir,  and  the 
bedroom  became  a place  for  more  intimate  guests 
than  those  received  in  the  large  reception-room.  In 
the  days  of  Louis  XIV.  the  bed  was  a massive 
structure,  but  in  the  succeeding  reign  it  became  an 
elegant  appendage  to  a room.  At  Versailles  the 
splendid  galleries  of  magnificent  proportion  were 
transformed  by  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  Regent  of 
France  (17 15-1723)  during  the  king’s  minority,  into 
smaller  salons  covered  in  wainscoting,  painted  white 
and  ornamented  with  gilded  statues.  In  like  manner 
the  Louis  Quinze  decorations  were  ruthlesslydestroyed 
by  Louis-Philippe. 


With  chased  and  bronze-gilt  mounts. 
[^Formerly  in  the  Hamilton  Palace  Collection.') 


' idi 


FRENCH  FURNITURE 


177 


The  commode  in  the  Wallace  Collection  (illustrated 
p.  17 1 ) is  of  the  time  when  Louis  XV.  was  in  his 
minority,  and  of  the  days  of  the  Regency.  It  is  by 
Charles  Cressent  (1685-1768),  who  was  cabinetmaker 
to  Philippe  d’Orleans,  Regent  of  France.  This  is  an 
especially  typical  specimen  of  the  class  to  which  it 
belongs  as  showing  the  transition  style  between 
Louis  XIV.  and  the  succeeding  reign. 

To  establish  Louis  the  Fifteenth’s  petits  appaj'te- 
ments  the  gallery  painted  by  Mignard  was  demolished, 
and  later,  in  1752,  the  Ambassadors’  Staircase  was 
destroyed,  the  masterpiece  of  the  architects  Levau 
and  Dorbay,  and  the  marvel  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth’s 
Versailles. 

It  is  necessary  to  bear  these  facts  in  mind  in  order 
to  see  how  a new  French  monarch  set  ruthlessly  new 
fashions  in  furniture  and  created  a taste  for  his 
personal  style  in  art.  In  the  first  part  of  the  Louis 
Quinze  period  the  metal  mountings  by  Cafderi  and 
Cressent  are  of  exquisite  style  ; they  are  always  of 
excellent  workmanship,  but  later  they  betrayed  the 
tendency  of  the  time  for  fantastic  curves,  which  had 
affected  the  furniture  to  such  an  extent  that  no 
straight  lines  were  employed,  and  the  sides  of  com- 
modes and  other  pieces  were  swelled  into  unwieldy 
proportions,  and  instead  of  symmetrical  and  har- 
monious results  the  florid  style,  known  as  the 
“ rococo,’’  choked  all  that  was  beautiful  in  design. 
IMeissonier,  Director  of  the  Royal  Factories  (1723- 
1774),  was  mainly  responsible  for  this  unnatural 
development.  He  revelled  in  elaborate  combinations 
of  shellwork  and  impossible  foliage. 

12 


178 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


In  the  Louis  XV.  commodes  illustrated  (pp.  173, 1 75)' 
it  will  be  seen  how  far  superior  is  the  design  and  treat- 
ment of  the  one  which  was  formerly  in  the  celebrated 
Hamilton  Collection.  Its  chased  and  gilt  mounts  are 
harmoniously  arranged,  and  though  the  ornamenta- 
tion is  superbly  rich,  it  breaks  no  canons  of  art  by 
overloaded  detail  or  coarse  profusion.  Not  so  much 
can  be  said  for  the  other  commode  of  the  rococo 
style,  even  though  the  mounts  be  by  Caffieri  and 
executed  in  masterly  manner.  There  is  a wanton 
abandonment  and  an  offensive  tone  in  the  florid 
treatment  which  point  clearly  to  the  decline  of  taste 
in  art. 

The  highest  art  of  concealment  was  not  a pro- 
minent feature  in  a Court  which  adopted  its  style 
from  the  caprices  of  Madame  du  Pompadour  or  the 
whims  of  Madame  du  Barry.  But  among  the  finest 
productions  are  the  splendid  pieces  of  reticent  cabinet- 
making by  the  celebrated  Jean  Francois  Oeben,  who 
came  from  Holland.  His  preference  was  for  geo- 
metrical patterns,  varied  only  with  the  sparing  use  of 
flowers,  in  producing  his  most  delicate  marquetry. 
In  the  pieces  by  Boule  and  others,  not  in  tortoise- 
shell but  in  wood  inlay,  the  wood  was  so  displayed 
as  to  exhibit  in  the  panels  the  grain  radiating  from 
the  centre.  Oeben  did  not  forget  this  principle,  and 
placed  his  bouquets  of  flowers,  when,  on  occasion,  he 
used  them,  in  the  centre  of  his  panels,  and  filled  up 
the  panel  with  geometric  design. 

The  well-known  maker,  Charles  Cressent  (1685- 
1768),  used  rosewood,  violet,  and  amaranth  woods  in 
his  marquetry,  and  at  this  time  many  new  foreign 


FRENCH  FURNITURE  179 

woods  were  employed  by  the  cabinetmakers  in  France 
and  Italy.  In  addition  to  woods  of  a natural  colour, 
it  was  the  practice  artificially  to  colour  light  woods, 


LOUIS  XV.  ESCRITOIRE  A TOILETTE. 

Of  tulip-wood  and  sycamore,  inlaid  with  landscapes  in  coloured  woods 
Formerly  in  the  possession  of  Queen  Marie  Antoinette 
{Jones  Bequest:  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.) 

and  inlay  work  was  attempted  in  which  trophies  of 
war,  musical  instruments,  or  the  shepherd’s  crook 


180  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


luing  with  ribbon,  were  all  worked  out  in  marquetry. 
Pictures,  in  coloured  woods,  in  imitation  of  oil  paint- 
ings on  canvas,  were  foolishly  attempted, and  altogether 
the  art  of  inlay,  ingenious  and  wonderful  in  its  con- 
struction, began  to  affect  trivialities  and  surprising 
effects  most  unsuited  to  the  range  of  its  technique. 

In  the  toilet-table  illustrated  (p.  179),  this  misappli- 
cation of  inlay  to  reproduce  pictures  is  seen  on  the 
three  front  panels  and  on  the  middle  panel  above. 
The  chief  woods  employed  are  tulip  and  sycamore, 
inlaid  with  tinted  lime,  holly,  and  cherry-woods. 
The  mountings  of  the  table  are  chased  ormolu.  The 
cylindrical  front  encloses  drawers  with  inlaid  fronts. 
Beneath  this  is  a sliding  shelf,  under  which  is  a 
drawer  with  three  compartments,  fitted  with  toilet 
requisites  and  having  inlaid  lids.  This  specimen  of 
Louis  Quinze  work  is  in  the  Jones  Collection  at  the 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.  It  was  formerly  in 
the  possession  of  Queen  Marie  Antoinette.  It  is 
attributed  to  Oeben,  though  from  comparison  with 
some  of  the  chaster  work  known  to  have  come  from 
his  hand  it  would  seem  to  be  of  too  fanciful  marquetry 
for  his  restrained  and  sober  style. 

It  is  especially  true  of  the  furniture  of  this  great 
French  period  that  it  requires  harmonious  surround- 
ings. The  slightest  false  touch  throws  everything 
out  of  balance  at  once.  Of  this  fact  the  inventors 
were  well  aware.  If  Dutch  furniture  requires  the 
quiet,  restful  art  of  Cuyp  or  Van  der  Neer,  or  Metzu 
or  Jan  Steen  on  the  surrounding  walls,  the  interiors 
of  Louis  Quinze  demand  the  works  of  contemporary 
French  genre-painters. 


FRENCH  FURNITURE 


181 


All  things  worked  together  to  produce  a harmonious 
ensemble  in  this  brilliant  period.  The  royal  tapestry 
and  Sevres  porcelain  factories  turned  out  their  most 
beautiful  productions  to  decorate  rooms,  furniture, 


LOUIS  XV.  SECRETAIRE. 

By  Riesener,  in  his  earlier  manner. 

IN  TRANSITIONAL  STYLE,  APPROACHING  LOUIS 
SEIZE  PERIOD. 

( Wallace  Collection. ) 

and  for  the  table.  Tapestries  from  Beauvais,  Gobelins, 
and  Aubusson,  rich  silks  from  the  looms  of  Lyons, 
or  from  Lucca,  Genoa,  or  Venice  were  made  for  wall- 
hangings,  for  chair-backs,  for  seats,  and  for  sofas. 


182  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


Fragonard,  Natoire,  and  Boucher  painted  lunettes 
over  chimney-fronts,  or  panels  of  ceilings.  Of  great 
cabinetmakers,  Riesener  and  David  Roentgen, 
princes  among  ebenistes^  worked  in  wonderful  manner 
in  tulip-w’ood,  in  holly,  in  rosewood,  purple  wood,  and 
laburnum  to  produce  marquetry,  the  like  of  which 
has  never  been  seen  before  nor  since. 

Associated  with  the  period  of  Louis  XV.  is  the 
love  for  the  lacquered  panel.  Huygens,  a Dutchman, 
had  achieved  good  results  in  imitations  of  Oriental 
lacquer,  which  in  France,  under  the  hand  of  Martin, 
a carriage-painter,  born  about  1706,  rivalled  the 
importations  from  Japan.  It  is  stated  that  the  secret 
of  the  fine,  transparent  lac  polish  that  he  used  was 
obtained  from  the  missionaries  who  resided  in  Japan 
before  the  date  of  the  massacres  and  foreign  expul- 
sion of  all  except  the  Dutch  traders.  Vernis-Martin, 
as  his  varnish  was  termed,  became  in  general  request. 
From  1744  for  twenty  years,  Sieur  Simon  Etienne 
Martin  was  granted  a monopoly  to  manufacture  this 
lacquered  work  in  the  Oriental  style.  Although  he 
declared  that  his  secret  would  die  with  him,  other 
members  of  his  family  continued  the  style,  which  was 
taken  up  by  many  imitators  in  the  next  reign.  His 
varnish  had  a peculiar  limpid  transparency,  and  he 
obtained  the  wavy  network  of  gold  groundwork  so 
successfully  produced  by  Japanese  and  Chinese 
craftsmen.  On  this  were  delicately  painted,  by 
Boucher  and  other  artists,  Arcadian  subjects,  framed 
in  rocaille  style  with  gold  thickly  laid  on,  and  so 
pure  that  in  the  bronze  gilding  and  in  the  woodwork 
it  maintains  its  fine  lustre  to  the  present  day. 


By  permission  of 
Messrs.  Foley  dr  Eassie. 


THE  “bureau  DU  ROI.” 
THE  MASTERPIECE  OF  RIESENER. 
(From  a drawing  by  Walter  Easbie.) 

( / Vallace  Collection . ) 


FRENCH  FURNITURE 


185 


Towards  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.  a 
new  style  set  in,  which  reverted  to  simpler  tastes,  to 
which  the  name  “ A la  reine  ” was  given,  in  deference 
to  the  taste  which  is  supposed  to  have  emanated  from 
Marie  Leczinska,  the  queen,  but  is  said  to  have  been 
due  to  Madame  du  Pompadour. 

At  the  Wallace  Collection  is  a fine  secretaire,  with 
the  mounts  and  ornaments  of  gilt  bronze  cast  and 
chased,  which  is  illustrated  (p.  i8i).  The  central 
panel  of  marquetry  shows,  in  life  size,  a cock,  with 
the  caducens,  a snake,  a banner,  and  symbolical  in- 
struments. It  is  by  Jean  PTangois  Riesener,  and  in 
his  earliest  manner,  made  in  the  later  years  of  Louis 
Quinze  in  the  Transitional  style  approaching  the 
Louis  Seize  period. 

Among  the  wonderful  creations  of  Riesener,  prob- 
ably his  masterpiece  is  the  celebrated  “ Bureau  du 
Roi,”  begun  in  1760  by  Oeben,  and  completed  in 
1769  by  Riesener — who  married  the  widow  of  Oeben, 
by  the  way.  Its  bronzes  are  by  Duplesis,  Winant,  and 
Hervieux.  The  design  and  details  show  the  transition 
between  the  Louis  Quinze  and  the  Louis  Seize  styles. 

The  original,  which  is  at  the  Louvre,  is  in  marquetry 
of  various  coloured  woods  and  adorned  by  plaques 
of  gilt  bronze,  cast  and  chased.  The  copy  from 
which  our  illustration  is  taken  (p.  183)  is  in  the 
Wallace  Collection,  and  is  by  Dasson,and  follows  the 
original  in  proportions,  design,  and  technique. 


186 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


RECENT  SALE  PRICES.^ 

£ s.  d. 

Table,  Louis  XV.,  oblong,  the  legs  are 
cabriole,  it  contains  one  drawer  and 
a writing-slide  ; around  the  sides  are 
inlaid  panels  of  old  Japanese  lacquer, 
each  panel  bordered  by  elaborate 
scrollwork  of  chased  ormolu,  signed 
with  “ B.  V.  R.  B.,”  surmounted  by 
a slab  of  white  marble,  39  in.  wide. 

Christie,  December  18,  1903  . 1900  o o 

Writing-table,  Louis  XV.,  marquetry, 
with  sliding  top  and  drawer,  fitted 
with  movable  writing  slab,  compart- 
ment for  ink-vases,  &c.,  signed  “ L. 

Doudin,”  Louis  XV.  form,  with  cab- 
riole legs,  the  top  decorated  with 
scrolls  forming  panels,  the  centre 
one  containing  a Teniers  figure  sub- 
ject, parquetry  and  inlays  of  flowers 
round  the  sides,  corner  mounts,  &c., 
of  ormolu,  cast  and  chased,  30  in.  wide. 

Christie,  March  18,  1904  . . . 630  o o 

Cartonniere,  Louis  XV,  of  inlaid  tulip- 
wood,  containing  a clock  by  Palanson, 
a Paris,  mounted  with  Chinese  figures, 
masks,  foliage  and  scrolls  of  chased 
ormolu,  48  in.  high,  36  in.  wide. 

Christie,  April  22,  1904  . . . 409  lO  o 

' By  the  kindness  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Connoisseur 
these  items  are  given  from  their  useful  monthly  publication, 
Auction  Sale  Prices. 


FRENCH  FURNITURE 

Secretaires,  pair,  Louis  XV.,  small  mar- 
quetry, with  fall-down  front,  drawer 
above  and  door  below,  inlaid  with 
branches  of  flowers,  and  mounted 
with  chased  ormolu,  surmounted  by 
white  marble  slabs,  46  in.  high,  22  ia 
wide.  Christie,  April  29,  1904  . . 46 

Cabinet,  Louis  XV.,  parquetry,  with  fold- 
ing doors  enclosing  drawers,  mounted 
with  ormolu,  surmounted  by  a Brescia 
marble  slab,  30  in.  high,  44  in.  wide. 
Christie,  April  29,  1904  . . -31 

Bcrgeres,  pair  of  Louis  XV.,  corner-shaped, 
the  frames  of  carved  and  gilt  wood, 
the  seats  and  backs  covered  with  old 
Beauvais  tapestry.  Christie,  May  18, 

1904 420 

Settee,  Louis  XV.,  oblong,  of  carved  and 
gilt-wood,  covered  with  panels  of  old 
Beauvais  tapestry,  3 ft.  8 in.  wide. 
Christie,  May  18,  1904  . . , . 231 

Canape,  Louis  XV.,  of  carved  and  gilt 
wood,  the  borders  carved  with  acan- 
thus scrolls,  the  seat  and  back  covered 
with  old  Beauvais  silk  tapestry, 
decorated,  4 ft.  6 in.  wide.  Christie, 

May  18,  1904 420 


187 
s.  d. 


4 o 


10  o 


o o 


o o 


o o 


VIII 


FRENCH 
FURNITURE* 
THE  PERIOD  OF 
LOUIS  XVI 


189 


:< 


FRENCH  FURNITURE.  THE  PERIOD  OF  LOUIS  XVI 


Louis  XVL  . . . 1774-1793. 


1730-1806.  Riesener,  ebeniste  to 
Marie  Antoinette  (born  near 
Cologne). 

1789.  Commencement  of  the 
French  Revolution. 


The  so-called  Louis  Seize  period  embraces  much 
that  is  good  from  the  later  days  of  the  previous  reign. 
The  same  designers  were  employed  with  the  addition 
of  a few  younger  men.  Caffieri  and  Riesener  were 
producing  excellent  work,  and  above  all  was  Gouthiere, 
whose  renown  as  a founder  and  chaser  of  gilded 
bronze  ornaments  is  unrivalled.  Elegance  and  sim- 
plicity are  again  the  prevailing  notes.  Straight  lines 
took  the  place  of  the  twisted  contortions  of  the 
rococo  style.  Thin  scrolls,  garlands,  ribbons  and 
knots,  classical  cameo-shaped  panels,  and  Sevres 
plaques  form  the  characteristic  ornamentation. 

The  acanthus-leaf,  distorted  into  unnatural  pro- 
portions in  the  middle  Louis  Quinze  period,  returned 
to  its  normal  shape,  the  egg-and-tongue  moulding 


192  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


came  into  use,  and  the  delicacy  of  the  laurel-leaf  was 
employed  in  design  in  Louis  Seize  decorations. 

In  the  jewel  cabinet  illustrated  (p.  193),  the  new 
style  is  shown  at  its  best.  The  cabinet  is  inlaid  in 
rosewood  and  sycamore,  and  bears  the  name  of 
“ J.  H.  Riesener  ” stamped  on  it.  The  chased  ormolu 
mounts  are  by  Gouthiere.  The  geometrical  inlay  is 
a tradition  which  Oeben  left  to  his  successors.  The 
upper  portion  has  a rising  lid  with  internal  trays.  In 
the  lower  part  is  a drawer  and  a shelf.  This  piece  is 
at  the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  in  the  Jones 
Bequest,  and  it  is  well  worth  detailed  examination  as 
being  a representative  specimen  of  the  most  artistic 
work  produced  at  this  period. 

Pierre  Gouthiere  had  a complete  mastery  over  his 
technique.  The  estimation  with  which  his  work  is 
regarded  has  made  furniture  which  he  mounted  bring 
extraordinary  prices.  In  1882,  at  the  dispersal  of  the 
celebrated  Hamilton  Palace  Collection,  three  speci- 
mens with  his  workmanship  realised  ;!^30,000. 

The  Vernis-Martin  panels  were  decorated  by 
Watteau  and  Pater.  The  age  of  artificialities  with 
its  fetes-galantes  in  the  royal  gardens  of  the  Luxem- 
bourg and  in  the  pleasure  parks  of  the  Court,  with 
the  ill-starred  Marie  Antoinette  playing  at  shepherds 
and  shepherdesses,  had  its  influence  upon  art. 
Watteau  employed  his  brush  to  daintily  paint  the 
attitudes  of  Le  Loigneur  upon  a fan-mount,  or  to 
depict  elegantly  dressed  noblemen  and  ladies  of  the 
Court  dancing  elaborate  minuets  in  satin  shoes,  or 
feasting  from  exquisite  Sevres  porcelain  dishes  in  the 
damp  corner  of  some  park  or  old  chateau. 


LOUIS  XVI.  JEWEL  CABINET. 

Inlaid  in  rose  and  sycamore  woods.  Stamped  “ H,  Riesener.  ’ 
Chased  Ormoulu  mountings  by  Gouthiere. 

Jones  Bequest.  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum i) 

13 


FRENCH  FURNITURE 


195 


The  artificial  pretence  at  Arcadian  simplicity 
adopted  by  the  Queen,  in  the  intervals  between  her 
attendance  at  public  hals-inasque,  when  she  almost 
wantonly  outraged  the  susceptibilities  of  the  French 
people  by  her  frivolities,  found  a more  permanent 
form  in  interior  decorations.  Riesener  and  David 
designed  a great  deal  of  furniture  for  her.  Dainty 
work-tables  and  writing-tables  and  other  furniture  of 
an  elegant  description  are  preserved  in  the  national 
collection  in  the  Louvre  and  at  Fontainebleau,  in  the 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  in  the  Jones  Bequest, 
and  in  the  Wallace  Collection.  Tables  of  this  nature 
are  most  eagerly  sought  after.  A small  table  with 
plaques  of  porcelain  in  the  side  panels,  which  is  said 
to  have  belonged  to  Marie  Antoinette,  was  sold  at 
Christie’s  for  £6,000  (Hamilton  Collection).  There 
is  a similar  writing-table  in  the  Jones  Collection, 
given  by  Marie  Antoinette  to  Mrs.  Eden,  afterwards 
Lady  Auckland. 

During  the  period  under  Louis  Seize,  when 
Fragonard  and  Natoire  deftly  painted  the  panels 
of  rooms  and  filled  ceilings  with  flying  cupids 
and  chains  of  roses,  when  Boucher  was  Director 
of  the  Academy,  the  interior  of  rooms  assumed  a 
boudoir-like  appearance.  The  walls  were  decorated 
in  a scheme  of  colour.  Handsome  fluted  pillars 
with  fine  classic  feeling  were  the  framework  of 
panelling  painted  in  delicate  and  subdued  tones. 
Oval  mirrors,  avoiding  all  massive  construction, 
lightened  the  effect,  and  mantelpieces  of  white 
marble,  and  furniture  evidently  designed  for  use, 
completed  the  interiors  of  the  homes  of  the  grands 


196  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


seigneurs.  Sometimes  the  walls  were  painted,  giving 
a lustrous  appearance  resembling  silk,  and  this  style 
is  the  forerunner  of  the  modern  abomination  known 
as  wall-paper. 

Before  leaving  this  period  of  French  furniture, 
when  so  much  marquetry  work  was  done  of  unsur- 
passed beauty  and  of  unrivalled  technique,  a word 
may  be  said  as  to  the  number  of  woods  used.  Oeben 
and  Riesener  and  their  contemporaries  used  many 
foreign  woods,  of  which  the  names  are  unfamiliar. 
Mr.  Pollen,  in  his  “ South  Kensington  Museum 
Handbook  to  Furniture  and  Woodwork,”  has  given 
the  names  of  some  of  them,  which  are  interesting  as 
showing  the  number  of  woods  especially  selected  for 
this  artistic  cabinetmaking.  Tulip-wood  is  the 
variety  known  as  Liriodendron  tulipifera.  Rosewood 
was  extensively  used,  and  holly  {ilex  aquifoliuni)^  maple 
{acer  campestre),  laburnum  {cytisus  A/pinus),  and 
purple  wood  {copaifera  pubiflord).  Snake-wood  was 
frequently  used,  and  other  kinds  of  light-brown  wood 
in  which  the  natural  grain  is  waved  or  curled, 
presenting  a pleasant  appearance,  and  obviating  the 
use  of  marquetry  (pee  “Woods  used,”  p.  29). 

In  the  great  collections  to  which  reference  has  been 
made,  in  well-known  pieces  made  by  Riesener  his 
name  is  found  stamped  on  the  panel  itself,  or  some- 
times on  the  oak  lining.  The  large  bureau  in  the 
Wallace  Collection  (Gallery  xvi..  No.  66)  is  both  signed 
and  dated  “ 20th  February,  1769.”  This  piece,  it  is 
said,  was  ordered  by  Stanislas  Leczinski,  King  of 
Poland,  and  was  once  one  of  the  possessions  of 
the  Crown  of  France. 


FRENCH  FURNITURE 


197 


With  regard  to  the  cost  of  pieces  of  furniture 
by  the  great  master  ebenistes,  it  is  on  record  that 
a secretaire  which  was  exhibited  at  Gore  House 
in  1853,  made  originally  for  Beaumarchais  by 
Riesener,  cost  85,000  francs,  a sum  not  much 
less  than  ;^'4,ooo.  Celebrated  copies  have  been 
made  from  these  old  models.  The  famous  cabinet 


By  permission  of 
Messrs.  iP'arinj^. 

LOUIS  XVI.  RIESENER  COMMODE. 


with  mounts  by  Gouthiere,  now  in  the  possession 
of  the  King,  was  copied  about  twenty-five  years 
ago  for  the  Marquis  of  Hertford,  by  permission 
of  Queen  Victoria.  The  piece  took  years  to  com- 
plete, and  it  is  interesting  to  have  the  evidence  of  its 
copyists  that  the  most  difficult  parts  to  imitate  were 
the  metal  mounts.  This  replica  cost  some  ^3,000, 
and  is  now  in  the  Wallace  Collection.  The  copy 
of  the  famous  bureau  or  escritoire  in  the  Louvre, 


198  CHATS  ON  OLD  FUENITURE 


known  as  the  “ Bureau  de  St.  Cloud,”  was  made  by 
permission  of  the  Emperor  Napoleon  III.,  and  cost 
^^*2,000.  Another  copy  of  the  same  piece  exhibited 
at  the  French  International  Exhibition  was  sold  for 
;^3,500  to  an  English  peeress.  Many  fine  copies  of 
Riesener’s  work  exist,  and  in  the  illustration  (p.  197) 
a copy  is  given  of  a handsome  commode,  which 
exhibits  his  best  style  under  the  influence  of  his 
master,  Oeben. 

RECENT  SALE  PRICES.^ 

£ s.  d. 

Cabinets,  pair  of  Louis  XVI.,  dwarf  ebony, 
the  panels  inlaid  with  black  and  gold 
lacquer,  decorated  with  birds  and 
trees  in  the  Chinese  taste,  mounted 
with  foliage  borders  of  chased  ormolu, 
and  surmounted  by  veined  black 
marble  slabs,  45  in.  high,  35  in.  wide. 

Christie,  November  20,  1903  . . 39  18  o 

Suite  of  Louis  XVI.  furniture,  with  fluted 
borders  and  legs,  painted  white  and 
pale  green,  the  seats,  backs,  and  arms 
covered  with  old  Beauvais  tapestry, 
with  vases  and  festoons  of  flowers 
and  conventional  arabesques  in  poly- 
chrome, on  white  ground  in  pale 
green  borders,  consisting  of  an  ob- 
long settee,  72  in.  wide,  eight  fauteuils. 

Christie,  December  18,  1903  . 1470  o o 

^ By  the  kindness  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Connoisseur 
these  items  are  given  from  their  useful  monthly  publication, 
Auction  Sale  Prices, 


FRENCH  FURNITURE 

£ 

Secretaire,  Louis  XVI.,  upright  marque-» 
try,  with  fall-down  front,  drawer 
above,  and  folding  doors  below,  in- 
laid with  hunting  trophies  on  trellis- 
pattern  ground,  mounted  with  foliage, 
friezes,  and  corner  mounts  of  chased 
ormolu,  and  surmounted  by  a Breccia  1315 
marble  slab,  stamped  “ J.  Stumpff. 

Me.,”  56  in.  high,  40  in  wide.  Christie, 
February  12,  1904  .... 

Commode,  en  suite^  with  five  drawers, 

58  in.  wide.  Christie,  February  12, 

1904 

Work-table,  Louis  XVI.,  oval,  in  two 
tiers,  upon  a tripod  stand,  with  double 
candle  branches  above  ; the  top  tier 
is  composed  of  a Sevres  plaque, 
painted  with  sprays  of  roses  ; around 
this  is  a gallery  of  chased  ormolu  ; 
the  second  tier  is  of  parquetry,  this 
has  also  a balcony ; the  tripod  base 
is  of  mahogany,  with  mounts  of 
ormolu,  cast  and  chased  ; the  nozzles 
for  the  two  candles  above  are  similar 
in  material  and  decoration,  width  of 
top  tier,  13  in.  Christie,  March  18, 

1904 714 

Table,  Louis  XVI.,  marquetry,  signed 
“ N.  Petit,”  top  inlaid  with  musical 
trophy,  &c.,  mounts,  &c.,  of  ormolu, 
cast  and  chased,  30  in.  wide.  Christie, 
March  18,  1904 99 


199 

d. 


o o 


o o 


5 o 


200  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITUEE 


£ s.  cl. 

Fauteuils,  pair,  Louis  XVI.  (stamped 
“ J.  Leglartier  ”),  tapered  oblong 
backs  and  curved  arms,  turned  legs, 
white  and  gilt,  covered  with  Beauvais 
tapestry,  with  subjects  from  “ Fables 
de  la  Fontaine,”  and  other  designs. 

Flashman  & Co.,  Dover,  April  26, 1904  75  o o 

Console-table,  Louis  XVI.,  carved  and 
painted  wood,  with  fluted  legs  and 
stretchers,  and  open  frieze  in  front, 
surmounted  by  a slab  of  white  marble, 

5 ft.  4 in.  wide.  Christie,  May  6,  1904  46  o o 

Commode,  Louis  XVI.,  containing  three 
drawers,  in  front  it  is  divided  into 
three  rectangular  sunk  panels  of 
parquetry,  each  bordered  with  ma- 
hogany, with  ormolu  mounts,  sur- 
mounted by  a slab  of  fleur-de-peche 
marble,  57  in.  wide.  Christie,  May 

27,  1904 357  o o 

Commode,  Louis  XVI.,  stamped  with  the 
name  of  “ J.  FI.  Reisener,”  with  tam- 
bour panels  in  front  and  drawers  at 
the  top ; it  is  chiefly  composed  of 
mahogany,  the  central  panel  inlaid 
in  a coloured  marquetry  ; on  either 
side,  and  at  the  ends,  are  panels  of 
tulip-wood  parquetery,  the  whole  is 
mounted  with  ormolu,  surmounted  by 
a slab  of  veined  marble,  34  in.  wide. 

Christie,  May  27,  1904  . . 3150  o o 


IX 


FRENCH 
FURNITURE. 
THE  FIRST 
EMPIRE  STYLE 


EMPIRE  CHAIR. 


201 


PORTRAIT  OF  MADAME  RECAMIER. 
(After  David.) 

Showing  Empire  settee  and  footstool. 
{In  the  Louvre.) 


IX 

FRENCH  FURNITURE— THE  FIRST  EMPIRE  STYLE 


1789.  Commencement  of  French 
Revolution, 

1798.  Napoleon’s  campaign  in 
Egypt. 

1805.  Napoleon  prepares  to  in- 
vade England  ; Battle  of 
Trafalgar  ; French  naval 
power  destroyed. 


1806.  Napoleon  issued  Berlin 
Decree  to  destroy  trade  of 
England. 

1812.  Napoleon  invaded  Russia, 
with  disastrous  retreat  from 
Moscow. 

1814.  Napoleon  abdicated. 

1815.  Wellington  defeated  Na- 
poleon at  Waterloo. 


When  Louis  XVI.  called  together  the  States- 
General  in  1789,  which  had  not  met  since  1614, 
the  first  stone  was  laid  of  the  French  Republic. 

203 


204  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


After  the  king  was  beheaded  in  1793,  the  Reign 
of  Terror  followed,  during  which  the  wildest  licence 
prevailed.  Under  the  Directory,  for  four  years  from 
1795,  the  country  settled  clown  until  the  rise  of 
Napoleon  Bonaparte,  who  took  the  government  in 
his  own  hands  with  the  title  of  Consul,  and  in  1804 
called  himself  Emperor  of  the  French. 

During  the  Reign  of  Terror  the  ruthless  fury  of  a 
nation  under  mobdaw  did  not  spare  the  most 
beautiful  objects  of  art  which  were  associated  with 
a hated  aristocracy.  Furniture  especially  suffered, 
and  it  is  a matter  for  wonderment  that  so  much 
escaped  destruction.  Most  of  the  furniture  of  the 
royal  palaces  was  consigned  to  the  spoliation  of 
“ the  Black  Committee,”  who  trafficked  in  works  of 
great  price,  and  sold  to  foreign  dealers  the  gems 
of  French  art  for  less  than  a quarter  of  their  real 
value.  So  wanton  had  become  the  destruction  of 
magnificent  furniture  that  the  Convention,  with  an 
eye  on  the  possibilities  of  raising  money  in  the 
future,  ordered  the  furniture  to  be  safely  stored 
in  the  museums  of  Paris. 

After  so  great  a social  upheaval,  art  in  her  turn 
was  subjected  to  revolutionary  notions.  Men  cast 
about  to  find  something  new.  Art,  more  than  ever, 
attempted  to  absorb  the  old  classic  spirit.  The 
Revolution  was  the  deathblow  to  Rococo  ornament. 
With  the  classic  influences  came  ideas  from  Egypt, 
and  the  excavations  at  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii 
provided  a further  source  of  design.  A detail  of  a 
portion  of  a tripod  table  found  at  Pompeii  shows 
the  nature  of  the  beautiful  furniture  discovered. 


FRENCH  FURNITURE 


205 


As  early  as  1763,  Grimm  wrote:  “ For  some  years 
past  we  are  beginning  to  inquire  for  antique  orna- 
ments and  forms.  The  interior  and  exterior  decora- 
tions of  houses,  furniture,  materials  of  dress,  work 
of  the  goldsmiths,  all  bear  alike  the  stamp  of  the 
Greeks.  The  fashion  passes  from 
architecture  to  millinery  ; our 
ladies  have  their  hair  dressed  a la 
Grecque!'  A French  translation 
of  Winckelmann  appeared  in  1765, 
and  Diderot  lent  his  powerful  aid 
in  heralding  the  dawn  of  the 
revival  of  the  antique  long  before 
the  curtain  went  up  on  the  events 
of  1789. 

Paris  in  Revolution  days  assumed 
the  atmosphere  of  ancient  Rome. 

Children  were  given  Greek  and 
Roman  names.  Classical  things 
got  rather  mixed.  People  called 
themselves  “Romans.”  Others  had 
Athenian  notions.  Madame  Vigee- 
Lebrun  gave  soiipers  a la  Grecqite. 

Madame  Lebrun  was  Aspasia,  and 
M.  I’Abbe  Barthelemy,  in  a Greek  , 

, . , , , , (At  Naples  Museum.) 

dress  with  a laurel  wreath  on  his 

head,  recited  a Greek  poem. 

These,  among  a thousand  other  signs  of  the 
extraordinary  spirit  of  classicism  which  possessed 
France,  show  how  deep  rooted  had  become  the 
idea  of  a modern  Republic  that  should  emulate 
the  fame  of  Athens  and  of  Rome.  The  First 


DETAIL  OF  TRIPOD 
TABLE  FOUND  AT 
POMPEII. 


206  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 

Consul  fav'oured  these  ideas,  and  his  portraits  repre- 
sent him  with  a laurel  wreath  around  his  head 
posing  as  a Caesar. 

In  tiansition  days  before  the  style  known  as 
Empire  had  become  fixed  there  is  exhibited  in  art 


Ey  khid  permission  from  the 
collection  of  Dr.  Sigerson,  Dublin. 

SERVANTE. 

Marble  top  ; supported  on  two  ormoulu  legs  elaborately  chased  with  figures  oi 
Isis.  Panelled  at  back  with  glass  mirror. 

FRENCH  ; LATE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 


a feeling  which  suggests  the  deliberate  search  after 
new  forms  and  new  ideas.  To  this  period  belongs 
the  servante,  which,  by  the  kindness  of  Dr.  Siger- 
son,  of  Dublin,  is  reproduced  from  his  collection. 


FEENCH  FURNITURE  207 

The  claw-foot,  the  ram’s  head,  the  bay-leaf,  and  a 


frequent  use  of  caryatides  and  animal  forms,  is  a 
common  ornamentation  in  furniture  of  the  Empire 


JEWEL  CABINET  OF  THE  EMPRESS  MARIE  LOUISE. 

Made  on  the  occasion  of  her  marriage  with  the  Emperor  Napoleon  Bonaparte, 
in  i8io. 

(Af  Fontainebleau.) 


208  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 

period.  In  this  specimen  the  two  legs  of  ormolu 
have  these  characteristics,  and  it  is  noticeable  that 
the  shape  of  the  leg  and  its  details  of  ornament  bear 
a striking  resemblance  to  the  leg  of  the  Pompeiian 
table  illustrated  (p.  205).  But  the  deities  of  Egypt 
have  contributed  a new  feature  in  the  seated  figure  of 
the  goddess  Isis. 

Napoleon  himself  encouraged  the  classic  spirit 
which  killed  all  memories  of  an  a7icie}i  regime.  He 
would  have  been  pleased  to  see  all  the  relics  of  the 
former  glories  of  France  demolished.  He  had  at 
one  time  a project  to  rebuild  Versailles  as  a classic 
temple. 

At  the  height  of  his  splendour  he  became  the 
patron  of  the  fine  arts,  and  attempted  to  leave 
his  impression  upon  art  as  he  did  upon  everything 
else.  New  furniture  was  designed  for  the  Imperial 
palaces.  Riesener  was  alive,  but  it  does  not  appear 
that  he  took  any  part  in  the  new  creations.  David, 
the  great  French  painter,  an  ardent  Republican, 
was  won  over  to  become  a Court  painter.  At 
Malmaison  and  at  Fontainebleau  there  are  many  fine 
examples  of  the  First  Empire  period  which,  how- 
ever, cannot  be  regarded  as  the  most  artistic  in  French 
furniture.  Preserved  at  Fontainebleau  is  the  jewel 
cabinet,  made  by  Thomire  and  Odiot,  at  the  Em- 
peror’s orders  as  a wedding  gift,  in  1810,  to  the 
Empress  Marie  Louise,  in  emulation  of  the  celebrated 
Riesener  cabinet  at  the  Trianon.  The  wood  used  for 
this,  and  for  most  of  the  Empire  cabinets,  is  rich 
mahogany,  which  affords  a splendid  ground  for  the 
bronze  gilt  mounts  {see  p.  207). 


FRENCH  FURNITURE 


209 


The  portrait  of  Madame  Recamier,  by  David,  which 
is  in  the  Louvre,  given  as  headpiece  to  this  chapter, 
shows  the  severe  style  of  furniture  in  use  at  the  zenith 
of  the  Empire  period.  The  couch  follows  classic 
models,  and  the  tall  candelabrum  is  a suggestion 
from  Herculaneum  models. 

The  influence  that  this  classic  revival  had  upon 
furniture  in  this  country  is  told  in  a subsequent 
chapter.  In  regard  to  costume,  the  gowns  of  the 
First  Empire  period  have  become  quite  fashionable 
in  recent  years. 

Although  this  style  of  furniture  degenerated  into 
commonplace  designs  with  affectedly  hard  outlines, 
it  had  a considerable  vogue.  In  addition  to  the 
influence  it  had  upon  the  brothers  Adam  and  upon 
Sheraton,  it  left  its  trace  on  English  furniture  up 
till  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
The  chair  illustrated  (p.  210)  is  about  the  year 
1800  in  date.  There  is  presumptive  evidence  that 
this  chair  was  made  in  Bombay  after  European  design. 
It  is  of  rosewood,  carved  in  relief  with  honeysuckle 
and  floral  design.  The  scrolled  ends  of  the  top  rail 
show  at  once  its  French  derivation. 

In  the  national  collections  in  this  country  there  are 
very  few  specimens  of  Empire  furniture.  The  Duke 
of  Wellington  has  some  fine  examples  at  Apsley 
House,  treasured  relics  of  its  historic  associations 
with  the  victor  of  Waterloo.  The  demand  in  France, 
for  furniture  of  the  First  Empire  style  has  in  all 
probability  denuded  the  open  market  of  many  fine 
specimens.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  this  country  was 
at  war  with  France  when  the  style  was  at  its  height, 

14 


210  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


the  number  of  Empire  pieces  imported  was  very 
limited,  nor  does  First  Empire  furniture  seem  to  have 
greatly  captivated  the  taste  of  English  collectors,  as 
among  the  records  of  sales  of  furniture  by  public 
auction  very  little  has  come  under  the  hammer. 


By  kind  fonnission  n/ 
the  Rev.  H.  V.  I.e  Bas, 


ARMCHAIR,  ROSEWOOD. 

Carved  in  relief  w'ith  honeysuckle  pattern, 
Formerly  in  possession  of  the  Duke  of  Newcastle. 

ENGLISH  ; LATE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 


X 


CHIPPENDALE 

AND 

HIS  STYLE 


211 


\ 


/ 


By  pert?tissi07i  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  " Coit7toisseiir.'' 

TABLE  MADE  BY  CHIPPENDALE. 

(Height,  29I  in.  ; width,  32I  in.  ; depth,  2i|  in.) 


X 


CHIPPENDALE  AND  HIS  STYLE 


George  1. 
George  1 1. 
George  HI. 


1714-1727- 

1727-1760. 

1760-1820. 


Horace  Walpole  built  Straw- 
berry Hill  (1750) 

Sir  William  Chambers  (1726- 
1796)  built  Pagoda  at  Kevv 
about  1760. 

Chippendale’s  D/rdc/ur  published 

(1754). 


Thomas  Chippendale,  the  master  cabinetmaker  of 

St.  Martin’s  Lane,  has  left  a name  which,  like  that  of 

213 


2U  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


Boule,  has  become  a trade  term  to  mark  a certain 
style  in  furniture.  With  the  dawn  of  the  age  of 
mahogany,  Chippendale  produced  designs  that  were 
especially  adapted  to  the  new  wood  ; he  relied  solely 
upon  the  delicate  carving  for  ornament,  and  rejected 
all  inlay. 

Discovered  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  who  brought 
specimens  home  with  him,  mahogany  did  not  come 
into  general  use  till  about  1720.  The  material  then 
used  by  Chippendale  and  his  school  was  the  splendid 
mahogany  from  the  great  untouched  forests,  producing 
at  that  time  timber  the  like  of  which,  in  dimension  and 
in  quality,  is  now  unprocurable.  The  cheaper  “Hon- 
duras stuff”  was  then  unknown,  and  English  crews 
landed  and  cut  timber  from  the  Spanish  possessions 
in  spite  of  the  protests  of  the  owners.  Many  a stiff 
fight  occurred,  and  many  lives  were  lost  in  shipping 
this  stolen  mahogany  to  England  to  supply  the 
demand  for  furniture.  These  nefarious  proceedings 
more  than  once  threatened  to  bring  about  war 
between  England  and  Spain. 

The  furniture  of  France,  during  the  four  great 
periods  treated  in  the  previous  chapters,  was  de- 
signed for  the  use  of  the  nobility.  One  wonders 
what  furniture  was  in  common  use  by  the  peasantry 
in  France.  In  England,  too,  much  of  the  furniture 
left  for  the  examination  of  posterity  was  made  for 
the  use  of  the  wealthy  classes.  In  Jacobean  days, 
settles  and  chairs,  especially  the  Yorkshire  and 
Derbyshire  types,  were  in  more  common  use,  and 
the  homely  pieces  of  Queen  Anne  suggest  less 
luxurious  surroundings,  but  it  was  left  for  Chippen- 


CHIPPENDALE  AND  HIS  STYLE  215 

dale  to  impress  his  taste  upon  all  classes.  In  the 


OLIVER  goldsmith’s  CHAIR. 

Wood,  painted  green,  with  circular  seat,  carved  arms,  and  high 
back.  Bequeathed  by  Oliver  Goldsmith  in  1774  liis  friend. 
Dr.  Hawes. 

{Bethnal  Green  Museum.) 


title-page  of  his  great  work,  the  Dircctoi',  published 


216  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


in  1754,  he  says  that  his  designs  are  “ calculated  to 
improv^e  and  refine  the  present  taste,  and  suited  to 
the  fancy  and  circumstances  of  persons  in  all  degrees 
of  life.” 

His  book  of  designs,  as  may  naturally  be  supposed, 
was  not  greatly  bought  by  the  working  classes,  but 
fifteen  copies  of  the  Director  went  to  Yorkshire,  and 
many  other  copies  were  subscribed  for  in  other  parts 
of  the  country,  so  that  local  cabinetmakers  began  at 
once  to  fashion  their  furniture  after  his  styles. 

The  common  form  of  chair  at  the  time  v/as  similar 
to  the  specimen  illustrated  (p.  215),  which  formerly 
belonged  to  Oliver  Goldsmith,  and  was  bequeathed 
by  him  to  his  friend,  Dr.  Hawes.  This  is  of  soft 
wood,  probably  beech,  painted  green,  with  circular 
seat,  curved  arms,  and  high  back.  Chippendale 
revolutionised  this  inartistic  style,  and  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  manufacture  of  furniture 
in  England,  continental  makers  turned  their  eyes  to 
this  country  in  admiration  of  the  style  in  vogue  here, 
and  in  search  of  new  designs. 

It  might  appear,  on  a hasty  glance  at  some  of 
Chippendale’s  work,  that  originality  was  not  his 
strong  point.  His  claw-and-ball  feet  were  not  his 
own,  and  he  borrowed  them  and  the  wide,  spacious 
seats  of  his  chairs  from  the  Dutch,  or  from  earlier 
English  furniture  under  Dutch  influence. 

Sir  William  Chambers,  the  architect  of  Somerset 
House,  whose  fondness  for  Chinese  ornament  pro- 
duced quite  a craze,  and  who  built  the  Pagoda 
in  Kew  Gardens,  gave  Chippendale  another  source 
of  inspiration.  In  his  later  days  he  came  under  the 


Ry  permission  of  the 

proprietors  of  the  -Connoisseur:'  CHI PPENDALE  SETTEE  ; WALNUT.  ABOUT  1740- 

{From  the  collection  of  Sir  W.  E.  Welby -Gregory,  Bart.) 


CHIPPENDALE  SETTEE,  OAK.  ABOUT  I74O. 

{By  courtesy  of  V.  Robinson^  Esq.,  C.I.E.) 


CHIPPENDALE  AND  HIR  STYLE  221 


influence  of  the  Gothic  revival  and  was  tempted  to 
misuse  Gothic  ornament. 

His  second  style  shows  the  Louis  XIV.  French 
decoration  in  subjection.  In  his  ribbon-back  chairs 
he  employed  the  Louis  XVI.  ornamentation. 

But  Chippendale  was  the  most  masterly  adapter 
that  England  has  ever  produced.  His  adaptions 
became  original  under  his  hand,  and  his  creations 
are  sturdy  and  robust,  tempered  by  French  subtleties, 
and  having,  here  and  there,  as  in  the  fretwork  in  the 
chair-legs  and  angles,  a suggestion  of  the  East.  He 
is  the  prince  of  chair-makers.  His  chairs  are  never 
unsymmetrical.  He  knew  the  exact  proportion  of 
ornament  that  the  structure  would  gracefully  bear. 
The  splats  in  the  chairs  he  made  himself  are  of  such 
accurate  dimensions  in  relation  to  the  open  spaces  on 
each  side  that  this  touch  alone  betrays  the  hand  of 
the  master,  which  is  absent  in  the  imitations  of  his 
followers. 

The  illustration  given  of  the  Chippendale  table  in 
Chinese  style  (p.  213),  is  a beautiful  and  perfect  piece 
of  a type  rarely  met  with.  It  was  made  by  Chippen- 
dale for  the  great-grandmother  of  the  present  owner 
A similar  table  was  in  the  possession  of  the  Princess 
Josephine.  In  chairs,  the  back  was  sometimes  of 
fret-cut  work,  as  was  also  the  design  of  the  legs,  with 
fretwork  in  the  angles,  which  betray  his  fondness 
for  the  Chinese  models.  The  Gothic  style  influenced 
Chippendale  only  to  a slight  degree.  Horace  Wal- 
pole at  Strawberry  Hill  set  the  fashion  in  England, 
which  fortunately  was  short-lived. 

Collectors  divide  Chippendale’s  work  into  three 


222  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


periods.  To  the  first  they  assign  the  more  solid 
chairs  or  settees  with  cabriole  legs  and  Louis  XIV. 
ornament,  harmoniously  blended  with  Queen  Anne 
style.  These  chairs  and  settees  are  often  found  with 
claw-and-ball  feet,  and  are  frequently  of  walnut. 
Two  fine  examples  of  settees,  the  one  of  oak,  the 
other  of  walnut,  are  illustrated. 


The  second 
period  embraces 
the  fine  creations 
which  have  the 
celebrated  Louis 
XVI.  ribbon  orna- 
mentation in  the 
backs.  From  one 
of  the  designs 
in  Chippendale’s 
book,  here  illus- 
trated, the  ele- 
gance of  the  style 
is  shown.  It  is 


RIBBON  PATTERN.  ciiippENDALE  CHAIR-  gxuberantenouo’h 


but  the  author 
complains  in  his 


{From  the  Director F) 


volume  that  “ In  executing  many  of  these  drawings, 
my  pencil  has  but  faintly  carved  out  those  images 
my  fancy  suggested  ; but  in  this  failure  I console 
myself  by  reflecting  that  the  greatest  masters  of  every 
art  have  laboured  under  the  same  difficulties.”  The 
ribbon-backed  chair  illustrated  (p.  223)  is  one  of  the 
two  given  to  an  ancestor  of  the  present  owner  by  the 
fourth  Duke  of  Marlborough  in  1790.  They  were 


CHIPPENDALE  AND  HIS  STYLE  223 

formerly  at  Blenheim,  and  there  is  an  added  interest 
in  them  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  seats  were  worked 
by  Sarah,  the  great  Duchess  of  Marlborough. 


By  permission  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  “ Connoisseur." 

RIBBON-BACKED  CHIPPENDALE  CHAIR,  FORMERLY  AT  BLENHEIM, 
THE  SEAT  WORKED  BY  SARAH,  DUCHESS  OF  MARLBOROUGH. 


224  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 

The  latest  style  of  Chippendale’s  work  is  the 
Gothic.  There  are  many  pieces  in  existence  which 
he  probably  had  to  produce  to  satisfy  the  taste  of 
his  fashionable  clients,  but  the  style  is  atrocious,  and 


By  permission  oj  the 
proprietors  of  the  " Connoisseur." 

CHIPPENDALE  CORNER  CHAIR,  ABOUT  1780. 

{Reproduced  by  kindness  of  the  Hon.  Sir  Spencer 
Ponsonby-Rane,  G.C.B.,  I.S.O.) 

the  less  said  about  them  the  better.  The  illustration 
(p.  225)  of  a chair-back  from  his  design-book  shows 
how  offensive  it  could  be. 

The  fine  corner-chair,  here  illustrated,  exhibits  the 


CHIPPENDALE  AND  HIS  STYLE  225 


strength  and  solidity  he  could  impart  to  his  work. 
His  chairs  were  meant  to  sit  upon,  and  are  of  ex- 
cellent carpentry.  The  square,  straight  legs  are  a 
feature  of  much  of  his  work.  The  examples  belong- 
ing to  the  India  Office  and  the  Governors  of  the 
Charterhouse  illustrated  (pp.  226,  227)  show  the  type 
that  he  made  his  own  and  with  which  his  name  has 
been  associated. 

Although  his  chairs 
are  sought  after  as  es- 
pecially beautiful  in 
design  (his  father  was 
a maker  of  chairs  be- 
fore him)  he  made 
many  other  objects  of 
furniture.  The  mirrors 
he  designed  are  ex- 
quisite examples  of 
fine  woodcarving.  The 
one  illustrated  (p.  229) 
shows  the  mastery  he 
had  over  graceful  out- 
line. Bureau  bookcases  with  drop-down  fronts  have 
been  successfully  produced  since  his  day  after  his 
models.  The  one  illustrated  (p.  231)  shows  a secret 
drawer,  which  is  reached  by  removing  the  left-hand 
panel.  Card-tables,  settees,  knife-boxes,  tea-caddies, 
sideboards,  and  overmantles  were  made  by  him, 
which  show  by  their  diversity  of  technique  that  there 
was  more  than  one  pair  of  hands  at  work  in  carrying 
out  his  designs. 

The  collecting  of  Chippendale  furniture  has  become 

15 


GOTHIC  CHIPPENDALE  CHAIR-BACK. 


{From  the  “ Director.'') 


226 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


so  fashionable  of  late  years  that  genuine  old  pieces 
are  difficult  to  procure.  It  is  true  that  two  old  chairs 


By  permission  of  the 
propi-ietors  of  the  “ Connoisseur^ 

MAHOCiANY  CHIPPENDALE  CHAIR.  ABOUT  174O. 


[Property  of  the  India  Office.) 


v/ere  discovered  in  a workhouse  last  year,  but  when 
specimens  come  into  the  market  they  usually  bring 


CHIPPENDALE  AND  HIS  STYLE  227 


large  prices.  Two  elbow  state-chairs,  with  open- 
work backs,  were  sold  a little  while  ago  for  seven 


By  permission  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  “ Connoisseu: 


MAHOGANY  CHIPPENDALE  CHAIR. 


{By  pertilission  of  the  Master-  of  the  Charterhouse.) 


hundred  and  eighty  guineas,  and  a set  of  six  small 
chairs  brought  ninety-three  guineas  about  the  same 
time.  But  even  this  is  not  the  top  price  reached, 


228  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 

for  two  chairs  at  Christie’s  realised  eleven  hundred 
pounds ! 

Chippendale,  the  shopkeeper,  of  St.  Martin’s  Lane, 
who  took  orders  for  furniture,  which  he  or  his  sons,  or 
workmen  under  their  direct  supervision,  executed,  was 
one  person,  and  Chippendale,  who  had  quarrelled  with 
the  Society  of  Upholsterers,  and  published  a book 
of  designs  on  his  own  account,  which  quickly  ran 
through  three  editions,  was  another  person.  In  the 
one  case  he  was  a furniture  maker  whose  pieces 
bring  enormous  prices.  In  the  other  he  was  the 
pioneer  of  popular  taste  and  high-priest  to  the 
cabinetmakers  scattered  up  and  down  England, 
who  quickly  realised  the  possibilities  of  his  style, 
and  rapidly  produced  good  work  on  his  lines. 

These  pieces  are  by  unknown  men,  and  no  doubt 
much  of  their  work  has  been  accredited  to  Chippen- 
dale himself.  The  illustration  (p.  232)  shows  a 
mahogany  chair  well  constructed,  of  a time  con- 
temporary with  Chippendale  and  made  by  some 
smaller  maker.  This  type  of  chair  has  been  copied 
over  and  over  again  till  it  has  become  a recognised 
pattern.  It  finds  its  counterpart  in  china  in  the  old 
willow-pattern,  which  originated  at  Coalport  and  has 
been  adopted  as  a stock  design. 

Furniture  is  not  like  silver,  where  the  mark  of  the 
maker  was  almost  as  obligatory  as  the  hall  mark. 
Artists,  both  great  and  small,  have  signed  their 
pictures,  and  in  the  glorious  days  of  the  great  French 
ebenistes  and  metal-chasers,  signed  work  is  frequently 
found.  But  in  England,  at  a time  when  furniture  of 
excellent  design,  of  original  conception,  and  of 


By  permission  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  '•Connoisseur.'' 


CHIPPENDAI.E  MIRROR. 


CHIPPENDALE  AND  HIS  STYLE  231 


thoroughly  good  workmanship  was  produced  in 
great  quantities,  the  only  surviving  names  are  those 
of  designers  or  cabinetmakers  who  have  published 
books. 

So  great  was  the  influence  of  the  style  of  Chip- 


By  permission  of 

Messrs.  Harold  G.  Lancaster  &•  Co. 


CHIPPENDALE  BUREAU  BOOKCASE. 
With  drop-down  front,  showing  secret  drawer. 


pendale  that  it  permeated  all  classes  of  society.  An 
interesting  engraving  by  Stothard  (p.  235)  shows  the 
interior  of  a room,  and  is  dated  1782,  the  year  that 
Rodney  gained  a splendid  victory  over  the  French 


232  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


fleet  in  the  West  Indies,  and  the  year  that  saw  the 
independence  of  the  United  States  recognised. 

Kitchen  furniture  or  cottage  furniture  was  made  on 
the  same  lines  by  makers  all  over  the  country.  The 
wood  used  was  not  mahogany;  it  was  most  frequently 


By  permissi07t  of 

Messrs.  Harold  G.  Lancaster  &■  Co 


MAHOGANY  CHAIR. 

IN  THE  CHIPPENDALE  STYLE.  LATE 
EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

beech.  Chairs  of  this  make  are  not  museum  examples, 
but  they  are  not  devoid  of  a strong  artistic  feeling, 
and  are  especially  English  in  character.  More  often 
than  not  the  soft  wood  of  this  class  of  chair  is  found 


COTTAGE  CHAIRS,  BEECHVVOOD. 
LATE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY,  IN  STYLE 
OF  CHIPPENDALE. 


CHIPPENDALE  AND  HIS  STYLE  235 


to  be  badly  worm-eaten.  Two  chairs  of  this  type,  of 
beech,  are  illustrated  (p.  233),  and  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that,  as  in  the  instance  of  the  Yorkshire  and 
Derbyshire  chairs  of  Jacobean  days  made  by  local 
makers,  it  is  not  common  to  find  many  of  exactly 


INTERIOR  OF  ROOM,  ABOUT  1 782. 
[From  engravi/ig  after  Stothard.) 


the  same  design.  The  craftsman  gave  a personal 
character  to  his  handiwork,  which  makes  such 
pieces  of  original  and  artistic  interest,  and  cabinet- 
making and  joinery  was  not  then  so  machine-made 
as  it  is  now. 


236  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


It  may  be  here  remarked  that  the  earlier  pieces  of 
the  eighteenth  century  were  polished  much  in  the 
same  manner  as  was  old  oak  previously  described. 
Highly  polished  surfaces  and  veneers,  and  that 
abomination  “ French  polish,”  which  is  a cheap 
and  nasty  method  of  disguising  poor  wood,  bring 
furniture  within  the  early  nineteenth-century  days, 
when  a wave  of  l^hilistine  banalties  swept  over 
Europe. 


RECENT  SALE  PRICES.^ 

£ s.  d. 

Side  table,  Chippendale,  with  gadrooned 
border,  the  front  boldly  carved  with 
a grotesque  mask,  festoons  of  flowers 
and  foliage,  on  carved  legs  with  claw 
feet,  64  in.  long.  Christie,  February 

14,  IQ02 126  o o 

Tea-caddy,  Chippendale  mahogany,  square, 
with  four  divisions,  the  borders  carved 
with  rosettes  and  interlaced  riband 
ornament,  the  sides  inlaid  with  four 
old  Worcester  oblong  plaques  painted 
with  exotic  birds,  insects,  fruit,  flowers, 
and  festoons  in  colours  on  white 
ground,  10  in.  square.  Christie, 

F'ebruary  6,  1903  . . . . 52  10  o 

* By  the  kindness  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Co7inoisseu7 
these  items  are  given  from  their  useful  monthly  publication 
Auction  Sale  Prices. 


CHIPPENDALE  AND  HIS  STYLE  237 

£ s.  d. 

Fire-screen,  Chippendale  mahogany,  con- 
taining a panel  of  old  English  petit- 
point  needlework,  worked  with  a 
basket  of  flowers  in  coloured  silks, 
on  pillar  and  tripod  carved  with  foli- 
age and  ball-and-claw  feet.  Christie, 

December  4,  1903  . . . . 17  17  o 

Armchairs,  pair  large  Chippendale  ma- 
hogany, with  interlaced  backs  carved 
with  foliage,  the  arms  terminating 
in  carved  and  gilt  eagles’  heads. 

Christie,  January  22,  1904  . . 88  4 o 

Cabinet,  Chippendale  mahogany,  with 
glazed  folding  doors  enclosing 
shelves,  and  with  cupboards  and 
eight  small  drawers  below,  the 
borders  fluted,  8 ft.  high,  8 ft.  wide. 

Christie,  January  22,  1904  . . 67  4 o 

Chairs,  set  of  six  Chippendale  mahogany, 
with  open  interlaced  backs,  with  scroll 
tops,  carved  with  foliage  and  shell 
ornament,  on  carved  cabriole  legs 
and  ball  - and  - claw  feet.  Christie, 

January  22,  1904  ....  102  18  o 

Table,  Chippendale,  oblong,  cabriole  legs, 
carved  with  shells,  &c.,  on  claw  feet, 
surmounted  by  a veined  white  marble 
slab,  53  in.  wide.  Christie,  March  4, 

1904  . . . . . .73 


o 


o 


238  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITUEE 


£ s.  d. 

Settee,  Chippendale  mahogany,  with 
double  back  with  scroll  top,  carved 
with  arabesque  foliage,  the  arms  ter- 
minating in  masks,  on  legs  carved 
with  lions’  masks  and  claw  feet,  54  in. 
wide.  Christie,  April  12,  1904  . . 278  5 o 

Mirror,  Chippendale,  carved  with  gilt, 

88  in.  high,  50  in.  wide.  Christie, 

May  18,  1904 94  10  O 


XI 


SHERATON,  ADAM, 
AND  HEPPELWHITE 
STYLES 


339 


By  permission  o/ 

Messrs.  Harold  G.  Lancaster  <5*  Co. 


HEPPELWHITE  SETTEE,  MAHOGANY. 


XI 

SHERATON,  ADAM,  AND  HEPPELWHITE  STYLES 

Robert  Adam  . . 1728-1792.  1752.  Loch  and  Copeland’s  de- 

Thomas  Sheraton  . 1751-1806.  signs  published. 

1765.  Manwaring’s  designs  pub- 
lished. 

1770.  Ince  and  Mayhew’s  de- 
signs published. 

1788.  Heppelwhite’s  designs 
published. 

In  the  popular  conception  of  the  furniture  of  the 
three  Georges  the  honours  are  divided  between 
Chippendale  and  Sheraton.  Up  till  recently  all 
that  was  not  Chippendale  was  Sheraton,  and  all  that 

16  241 


242 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


was  not  Sheraton  must  be  Chippendale.  The  one 
is  represented  by  the  straight-legged  mahogany  chairs 
or  cabriole  legs  with  claw-and-ball  feet  and  the  backs 
elaborately  carved  ; the  other  with  finely  tapered  legs, 
built  on  elegant  lines,  and  of  satinwood,  having 
marquetry  decoration  or  painted  panels. 

This  is  the  rough  generalisation  that  obtained  in 
the  earlier  days  of  the  craze  for  collecting  eighteenth- 
century  furniture.  Heppelwhite  and  Adam  (more 
often  than  not  alluded  to  as  Adams),  are  now  added 
to  the  list,  and  auction  catalogues  attempt  to  differ- 
entiate accordingly.  But  these  four  names  do  not 
represent  a quarter  of  the  well-known  makers  who 
were  producing  good  furniture  in  the  days  between 
the  South  Sea  Bubble  in  1720  and  the  battle  of 
Waterloo  in  1815. 

In  this  chapter  it  will  be  impossible  to  give  more 
than  a passing  allusion  to  the  less-known  makers 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  but  to  those  who  wish  to 
pursue  the  matter  in  more  detailed  manner  the 
Bibliography  annexed  (p.  19)  gives  ample  material 
for  a closer  study  of  the  period. 

The  four  brothers  Adam,  sons  of  a well-known 
Scottish  architect,  were  exponents  of  the  classic  style. 
Robert  Adam  was  the  architect  of  the  fine  houses 
in  the  Adelphi,  and  he  designed  the  screen  and 
gateway  at  the  entrance  to  the  Admiralty  in  1758. 
James  is  credited  with  the  designing  of  interior 
decorations  and  furniture.  Carriages,  sedan-chairs, 
and  even  plate  were  amongst  the  artistic  objects 
to  which  these  brothers  gave  their  stamp.  The 
classical  capitals,  mouldings  and  niches,  the  shell 


SHERATON  ARMCHAIR;  AUAM  ARMCHAIR; 

MAHOGANY,  ABOUT  I780.  MAHOGANY,  ABOUT  1790. 


ARMCHAIR  OF  WALNUT,  SHIELD- 
BACK  CARVED  WITH  THREE 
OSTRICH  FEATHERS.  IN  HEPPEL- 
WHITE  STYLE.  LATE  EIGH- 
TEENTH CENTURY. 


CHAIR  OF  WALNUT,  SHIELD- 
BACK  ; IN  THE  STYLE  OF 
HEPPELWHITE.  LATE 
EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 


( Victoria  and  A Ibert  lUiisetuji . ) 


SHERATON,  ADAM,  HEPPELWHITE  245 

flutings  and  the  light  garlands  in  the  Adam  style,  are 
welcome  sights  in  many  otherwise  dreary  streets  in 
London.  Robert,  the  eldest  brother,  lived  from  1728 
to  1792,  and  during  that  time  exercised  a great 
influence  on  English  art. 

In  1790,  a set  of  designs  of  English  furniture  were 
published  by  A.  Heppelwhite.  In  these  chairs  with 
pierced  backs,  bookcases  with  fancifully  framed  glass 
doors,  and  mahogany  bureaux,  the  influence  of  Chip- 
pendale is  evident,  but  the  robustness  of  the  master 
and  the  individuality  of  his  style  become  trans- 
formed into  a lighter  and  more  elegant  fashion,  to 
which  French  finesse  and  the  Adam  spirit  have 
contributed  their  influence. 

In  the  illustration  (p.  243)  various  types  of  chairs 
of  the  period  are  given.  A chair  termed  the 
“ladder-back”  was  in  use  in  France  at  the  same 
time.  In  Chardin’s  celebrated  picture  of  jeu  de 
Voyel'  showing  the  interior  of  a parlour  of  the  middle 
eighteenth  century,  a chair  of  this  type  is  shown. 

The  Heppelwhite  settee  illustrated  as  the  headpiece 
to  this  chapter  shows  the  delicate  fluting  in  the 
woodwork,  and  the  elaborated  turned  legs  which 
were  beginning  to  be  fashionable  at  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  two  chairs  by 
Heppelwhite  & Co.,  illustrated  (p.  243),  are  typical 
examples  of  the  elegance  of  the  style  which  has  an 
individuality  of  its  own — a fact  that  collectors  are 
beginning  to  recognise. 

The  shield-back  chair  with  wheat-ear  and  open- 
work decoration,  and  legs  in  which  the  lathe  has 
been  freely  used,  are  characteristic  types.  The 


246  CHATS  OX  OLD  FUEXITURE 


elegance  of  the  legs  in  Heppelwhite  chairs  is 
especially  noticeable.  The  designers  departed  from 
Chippendale  with  results  exquisitely  symmetrical, 
and  of  most  graceful  ornamentation. 

Hogarth,  in  his  biting  satires  on  the  absurdities  of 
Kent,  the  architect,  painter,  sculptor,  and  ornamental 
gardener,  whose  claims  to  be  any  one  of  the  four 
rest  on  slender  foundations,  did  not  prevent  fashion- 
able ladies  consulting  him  for  designs  for  furniture, 
picture  frames,  chairs,  tables,  for  cradles,  for  silver 
plate,  and  even  for  the  construction  of  a barge. 
It  is  recorded  by  Walpole  that  two  great  ladies 
who  implored  him  to  design  birthday  gowns  for 
them  were  decked  out  in  incongruous  devices  : “ the 
one  he  dressed  in  a petticoat  decorated  in  columns  of 
the  five  orders,  and  the  other  like  a bronze,  in  a 
copper-coloured  satin,  with  ornaments  of  gold.” 

Heppelwhite  learned  the  lesson  of  Hogarth,  that 
“ the  line  of  beauty  is  a curve,”  and  straight  lines 
were  studiously  avoided  in  his  designs.  Of  the 
varieties  of  chairs  that  he  made,  many  have  the 
Prince  of  Wales’s  feathers  either  carved  upon  them 
in  the  centre  of  the  open-work  back  or  japanned 
upon  the  splat,  a method  of  decoration  largely 
employed  in  France,  which  has  not  always  stood  the 
test  of  time,  for  when  examples  are  found  they  often 
want  restoration.  Of  satin-wood,  with  paintings 
upon  the  panels,  Heppelwhite  produced  some  good 
examples,  and  when  he  attempted  greater  elaboration 
his  style  in  pieces  of  involved  design  and  intricacy  of 
detail  became  less  original,  and  came  into  contact 
with  Sheraton.  His  painted  furniture  commands 


SHERATON,  ADAM,  HEPPELWHITE  247 

high  prices,  and  the  name  of  Heppelwhite  will  stand 
as  high  as  Chippendale  or  Sheraton  for  graceful 
interpretations  of  the  spirit  which  invested  the 
late  eighteenth  century. 

Before  dealing  with  Sheraton  in  detail,  the  names 
of  some  lesser  known  makers  contemporary  with  him 
may  be  mentioned.  Matthias  Lock,  together  with 
a cabinetmaker  named  Copeland,  published  in  1752 
designs  of  furniture  which  derived  their  inspiration 
from  the  brothers  Adam,  which  classic  feeling  later, 
in  conjunction  with  the  Egyptian  and  Pompeian 
spirit,  dominated  the  style  of  the  First  Empire. 
Josiah  Wedgwood,  with  his  Etruscan  vases,  and 
Flaxman,  his  designer,  filled  with  the  new  classic 
spirit,  are  examples  in  the  world  of  pottery  of 
the  influences  which  were  transmitted  through  the 
French  Revolution  to  all  forms  of  art  when  men 
cast  about  in  every  direction  to  find  new  ideas 
for  design. 

Ince  and  Mayhew,  two  other  furniture  designers, 
published  a book  in  1770,  and  Johnson  outdid 
Chippendale’s  florid  styles  in  a series  of  designs  he 
brought  out,  which,  with  their  twisted  abortions,  look 
almost  like  a parody  of  Thomas  Chippendale’s  worst 
features.  There  is  a “ Chairmaker’s  Guide,”  by 
Manwaring  and  others  in  1766,  which  contains 
designs  mainly  adapted  from  all  that  was  being 
produced  at  the  time.  It  is  not  easy  to  tell  the 
difference  between  chairs  made  by  Manwaring  and 
those  made  by  Chippendale,  as  he  certainly  stands 
next  to  the  great  master  in  producing  types  which 
have  outlived  ephemeral  tastes,  and  taken  their 
stand  as  fine  artistic  creations. 


218  CHATS  OX  OLD  FUEXITUEE 


Among  other  names  are  those  of  Shearer,  Darly, 
and  Gillow,  all  of  whom  were  notable  designers  and 
makers  of  furniture  in  the  period  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  nineteenth  century. 

Thomas  Sheraton,  contemporary  with  X^hlliam 
Blake  the  dreamer,  shares  with  him  the  unfortunate 
posthumous  honour  of  reaching  sensational  prices  in 
auction  rooms.  There  is  much  in  common  between 
the  two  men.  Sheraton  was  born  in  1751  at  Stockton- 
on-Tees,  and  came  to  London  to  starve.  Baptist 
preacher,  cabinetmaker,  author,  teacher  of  drawing, 
he  passed  his  life  in  poverty,  and  died  in  distressed 
circumstances.  He  was,  before  he  brought  out  his 
book  of  designs,  the  author  of  several  religious  works. 
Often  without  capital  to  pursue  his  cabinetmaking 
he  fell  back  on  his  aptitude  for  drawing,  and  gave 
lessons  in  design.  He  paid  }'oung  Black,  who 
afterwards  became  Lord  Provost  of  Edinburgh,  half 
a guinea  a week  as  workman  in  his  cabinetmaker’s 
shop  in  Soho.  In  a pathetic  picture  of  those  days 
the  Lord  Provost,  in  his  Memoirs,  tells  how  Sheraton 
and  his  wife  and  child  had  only  two  cups  and  saucers 
and  the  child  had  a mug,  and  when  the  writer  took 
tea  with  them  the  wife’s  cup  and  saucer  were  given 
up  to  the  guest,  and  she  drank  her  tea  from  a 
common  mug.  This  reads  like  Blake’s  struggles 
when  he  had  not  money  enough  to  procure  copper- 
plates on  which  to  engrave  his  wonderful  visions. 

That  the  styles  of  Chippendale  and  Sheraton 
represent  two  distinct  schools  is  borne  out  by  what 
Sheraton  himself  thought  of  his  great  predecessor. 
Speaking  in  his  own  book  of  Chippendale’s  previous 


SHERATON,  ADAM,  HEPPELWHITE  249 

work  he  says  : “ As  for  the  designs  themselves  they 
are  wholly  antiquated,  and  laid  aside,  though  possessed 
of  great  merit  according  to  the  times  in  which  they 
were  executed.”  From  this  it  would  appear  that  the 
Chippendale  style,  at  the  time  of  Sheraton’s  “ Cabinet- 
maker’s and  Upholsterer’s  Drawing  Book,”  published 
in  1793,  had  gone  out  of  fashion. 

The  woods  mostly  employed  by  Sheraton  were 
satinwood,  tulip-wood,  rosewood,  and  apple-wood, 
and  occasionally  mahogany.  In  place  of  carved 
scrollwork  he  used  marquetry,  and  on  the  cabinets 
and  larger  pieces  panels  were  painted  by  Cipriani 
and  Angelica  Kauffman.  There  is  a fine  example 
of  the  latter’s  work  in  the  Victoria  and  Albert 
Museum. 

Sheraton  borrowed  largely  from  the  French  style 
under  Louis  XVI.,  when  the  lines  had  become 
severer  ; he  came,  too,  under  the  influence  of  the 
Adam  designs.  He  commonly  used  turned  legs,  and 
often  turned  backs,  in  his  chairs.  His  later  examples 
had  a hollowed  or  spoon  back  to  fit  the  body  of  the 
sitter.  When  he  used  mahogany  he  realised  the 
beauty  of  effect  the  dark  wood  would  give  to  inlay 
of  lighter  coloured  woods,  or  even  of  brass.  The 
splats  and  balusters,  and  even  the  legs  of  some  of 
his  chairs,  are  inlaid  with  delicate  marquetry  work. 

Ornament  for  its  own  sake  was  scrupulously 
eschewed  by  Sheraton.  The  essential  supports  and 
uprights  and  stretcher-rails  and  other  component 
parts  of  a piece  of  furniture  were  only  decorated  as 
portions  of  a preconceived  whole.  The  legs  were 
tapered,  the  plain  surfaces  were  inlaid  with  marquetry. 


250  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


but  nothing  meaningless  was  added.  In  France 
Sheraton’s  style  was  termed  Louis  Seize  a F AnglaiseS 
It  was  the  firm  of  Heppelwhite  that  first  intro- 


Ry  per>7tission  of 
.Sifssrs.  Hainptoi  &•  Sons. 

OLD  ENGLISH  SECRETAIRE. 
Rosewood  and  satinwood.  Drop-down  front. 


duced  the  painted  furniture  into  England,  and  under 
Sheraton  it  developed  into  an  emulation  of  the 
fine  work  done  by  Watteau  and  Greuze  in  the  days 
of  Marie  Antoinette. 


SHERATON,  ADAM,  HEPPEL WHITE  251 

Among  the  varied  pieces  that  Sheraton  produced 
are  a number  of  ingenious  inventions  in  furniture, 
such  as  the  library-steps  he  made  for  George  III.  to 
rise  perpendicularly  from  the  top  of  a table  frame, 
and  when  folded  up  to  be  concealed  within  it.  His 


By  permission  of 

Messrs.  Harold  G.  Lancaster  &■  Co. 


SHIELD-BACK  CHAIR.  MAHOGANY. 

LATE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

bureau-bookcases  and  writing-cabinets  have  sliding 
flaps  and  secret  drawers  and  devices  intended  to 
make  them  serve  a number  of  purposes. 

On  the  front  of  his  chairs  is  frequently  found  the 


252 


CHATS  ON  OLD  FUENITUEE 


inverted  bell  flower,  and  another  of  his  favourite 
forms  of  decoration  is  the  acanthus  ornament,  which 
he  puts  to  graceful  use. 

The  influence  of  his  work,  and  of  that  of  Hep- 
pelwhite  & Co.,  was  lasting,  and  much  of  the  late 
eighteenth  century  and  early  nineteenth  century 
cabinetmaking  owes  its  origin  to  their  designs.  The 
old  English  secretaire  illustrated  (p.  250),  of  rose 
and  satinwood,  with  drawer  above  and  fall-down 
front,  having  cupboard  beneath  with  doors  finely 
inlaid  with  plaques  of  old  lac,  is  of  the  date  when 
Heppelwhite  was  successfully  introducing  this  class 
of  French  work  into  Ifngland.  It  is  especially 
interesting  to  note  that  the  drawer-handles  are 
mounted  with  old  Battersea  enamel. 

The  difficulty  of  definitely  pronouncing  as  to  the 
maker  of  many  of  the  pieces  of  furniture  of  the 
late  eighteenth  century  is  recognised  by  experts. 
The  chair  illustrated  (p.  251)  cannot  be  assigned  to 
any  particular  designer,  though  its  genuine  old 
feeling  is  indisputable.  In  the  fine  collection  of 
old  furniture  of  this  period  at  the  Victoria  and 
Albert  Museum  will  be  found  many  examples  of 
chairs  with  no  other  title  assigned  to  them  than 
“ late  eighteenth  century.”  This  fact  speaks  for 
itself.  A great  and  growing  school  had  followed 
the  precepts  of  Chippendale  and  Heppelwhite  and 
Sheraton.  This  glorious  period  of  little  more  than 
half  a century  might  have  been  developed  into  a new 
Renaissance  in  furniture.  Unfortunately,  the  early 
days  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  the  dreary 
Early  Victorian  period,  both  before  and  after  the 


SHERATON,  ADAM,  HEPPELWHITE  253 

^reat  Exhibition  of  1851,  display  the  most  tasteless 
ineptitude  in  nearly  every  branch  of  art.  From 
the  days  of  Elizabeth  down  to  the  last  of  the 
Georges,  English  craftsmen,  under  various  influences, 
have  produced  domestic  furniture  of  great  beauty. 
It  is  impossible  to  feel  any  interest  in  the  Windsor 
chair,  the  saddle-bag  couch,  or  the  red  mahogany 
cheffoniere.  The  specimens  of  misapplied  work 
shown  at  the  Bethnal  Green  Museum,  relics  of  the 
English  exhibits  at  the  first  Exhibition,  are  unworthy 
of  great  traditions. 

The  awakened  interest  shown  by  all  classes  in  old 
furniture  will  do  much  to  carry  the  designers  back  to 
the  best  periods  in  order  to  study  the  inheritance  the 
masters  have  left,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
message  of  the  old  craftsmen  dead  and  gone  will 
not  fall  on  deaf  ears. 

RECENT  SALE  PRICES.^ 

£ s.  d. 

Chairs,  wheel  back,  set  of  seven  (including 
armchair),  Adam,  carved,  mahogany. 

Good  condition.  Brady  & Sons,  Perth, 

September  i,  1902  . . . . 27  2 o 

Mirror,  Adam,  in  gilt  frame,  Corinthian 
pillar  sides,  ornamental  glass  panel 
at  top,  surmounted  by  a carved  wood 
eagle  figure.  Gudgeon  & Sons,  Win- 
chester, November  ii,  1903  . . 7 10  o 

* By  the  kindness  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Connoisseur 
these  items  are  given  from  their  useful  monthly  publication, 
Auction  Sale  Prices. 


254  CHATS  OX  OLD  FURXITUEE 


Mantelpiece,  Adam,  carved  wood,  with 
Corinthian  column  supports,  carved 
and  figures  and  festoons.  France  & 
Sons,  December  i6,  1903 

Mirrors,  pair,  oval,  Adam,  carved  and  gilt 
wood  frame.  Christie,  March  18, 

1904 

Cabinet  or  enclosed  buffet,  Adam,  on 
Empire  lines,  veneered  on  oak  with 
grained  Spanish  mahogany,  in  the 
frieze  is  a long  drawer,  and  below  a 
cupboard,  the  whole  on  square  feet, 
doors  inlaid,  handles,  &c.,  of  ormolu, 
3 ft.  9 in.  wide.  Flashman  & Co., 
Dover,  April  26,  1904 

Side-tables,  pair  hare-wood,  by  Adam, 
with  rounded  corners,  on  square- 
shaped tapering  legs,  the  sides  and 
borders  inlaid  with  marquetry,  in 
coloured  woods,  53  in.  wide.  Christie, 
June  2,  1904  . . . . . 

Bookcase,  4 ft.  8 in.,  mahogany,  Heppel- 
white,  inlaid  tulip-wood  with  box  and 
ebony  lines,  fitted  shelves  and  drawers, 
enclosed  by  doors.  Bhillips,  Son  and 
Neale,  November  17,  1903 

Settee,  Heppel white,  square-shaped,  6 ft., 
and  three  elbow  chairs.  Gudgeon  & 
Sons,  Winchester,  March  9,  1904 


£ s.  d. 

20  o o 

46  4 o 

15  00 

105  o o 

44  o o 

38 


o o 


SHERATON,  ADAM,  HEPPELWHITE  255 


Console-table,  Heppelwhite  satinwood,  £ s.  d. 
the  top  shaped  as  a broken  ellipse, 
and  of  hare-wood  with  inlays  of  husks 
and  flowers  round  a fan-pattern 
centre  with  borderings  in  ebony 
and  other  woods  on  a filling  of 
satinwood  ; the  edge  is  bound  with 
ormolu,  reeded  and  cross  banded, 
below  is  the  frieze  of  satin-wood 
inlaid  with  honeysuckle,  paterae,  and 
other  ornament  in  holly,  &c.,  and 
supported  on  a pair  of  carved 
square  tapered  legs  painted  and 
gilt,  and  with  pendants  of  husks 
and  acanthus  capitals,  4 ft  3 in. 
wide.  Flashman  & Co.,  Dover, 

April  26,  1904  . . . . 40  o o 

Suite  of  Heppelwhite  mahogany  furni- 
ture, with  open  shield  backs,  with 
vase-shaped  centres  carved,  the  back, 
arms  and  legs  widely  fluted,  consist- 
ing of  a settee,  74  in.  wide,  and  ten 
armchairs.  Christie,  June  2,  1904  . 325  10  o 
Knife-box,  oblong,  Sheraton  mahogany, 
with  revolving  front,  inlaid  with 
Prince-of-Wales’s  feathers  and  borders 
in  satinwood,  19J  in.  wide.  Christie, 

November  21,  1902  . . . . 7 17  6 

Sideboard,  Sheraton,  mahogany,  satin- 
wood  inlaid,  fitted  with  brass  rails. 

Dowell,  Edinburgh,  November  14, 

1903 30  9 o 


256  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


Wardrobe,  Sheraton  mahogany,  banded 
with  satinwood,  with  folding  doors 
above  and  below,  and  five  drawers 
in  the  centre,  7 ft.  high,  8 ft.  wide. 
Christie,  January  22,  1904 
Chairs,  set  of  eighteen  Sheraton,  with 
oval  backs  with  rail  centres,  fluted 
and  slightly  carved  with  foliage  and 
beading,  the  seats  covered  with 
flowered  crimson  damask  ; and  a 
pair  of  settees,  en  suite,  6 ft.  wide. 
Christie.  February  26,  1904 
Armchairs,  pair,  Sheraton,  with  shield- 
shaped backs,  painted  with  Prince  of 
Wales  feathers,  and  pearl  ornament 
on  black  ground.  Christie,  March  28, 

1904 

Cabinet,  Sheraton  satinwood,  with  glazed 
folding  doors  enclosing  shelves, 
drawer  in  the  centre  forming  secre- 
tary, and  folding-doors  below,  painted 
with  baskets  of  flowers,  &c.,  7 ft.  9 in. 
high,  41  in.  wide.  Christie,  March  28, 

1904 

Secretaire,  Sheraton  small  satinwood, 
with  revolving  tambour  front,  drawer 
and  folding  doors  below,  inlaid  with 
arabesque  foliage,  23  in.  wide. 
Christie,  April  29,  1804 


£ s.  d. 


60  18  o 


126  o o 


28  7 o 


189  o o 


4;  5 o 


XII 


HINTS 

TO  COLLECTORS 


17 


257 


r » 


DESIGN  FOR  SPURIOUS  MARQUETRY  WORK. 


XII 

HINTS  TO  COLLECTORS 

The  demand  for  old  furniture  has  become  so  great 
that  there  is  an  increasing  difficulty  in  supplying  it. 
In  order  to  satisfy  the  collector  many  artifices  have 
been  practised  which  in  varying  degree  are  difficult 
to  detect,  according  to  the  skill  and  ingenuity  of  the 
present-day  manufacturer  of  “antique”  furniture. 

Replicas  of  old  pieces  are  frequently  made,  and 
the  workmanship  is  so  excellent,  and  the  copy  of 
the  old  craftsman’s  style  so  perfect,  that  it  only 
requires  a century  or  two  of  wear  to  give  to  the 
specimen  the  necessary  tone  which  genuine  old 
furniture  has  naturally  acquired. 

259 


260  CHATS  ON  OLD  FUKNITUEE 


In  particular,  French  ornate  furniture  from  the 
days  of  Boule  to  the  Empire  period  has  received 
the  flattering  attention  of  the  fabricator  by  being 
imitated  in  all  its  details.  These  high-class  French 
pieces  are  fine  examples  of  cabinetmaking,  and  it  is 
not  easy  for  anybody  who  has  not  a special  expert 
knowledge  to  pronounce  definitely  upon  their  authen- 
ticity. Doubts  have  even  been  expressed  regarding 
certain  pieces  in  the  great  national  collections  ; in 
fact  the  art  of  the  forger  in  regard  to  old  French 
furniture,  of  which  specimens  change  hands  at  any- 
thing from  .^^1,000  to  10,000,  has  reached  a very 
high  level  of  excellence,  having  almost  been  elevated 
to  one  of  the  fine  arts.  If  a clever  workman  possessed 
of  great  artistic  feeling  turns  his  attention  to  forging 
works  of  art,  it  is  obvious  that  his  triumph  is  com- 
plete over  amateurs  possessed  of  less  artistic  taste 
and  knowledge  than  himself 

Many  secret  processes  are  employed  to  impart  an 
appearance  of  age  to  the  wood  and  to  the  metal 
mountings.  The  cruder  methods  are  to  eat  off  the 
sharper  edges  of  the  metal  mountings  by  means  of 
acid,  and  to  discolour  the  newer  surfaces  by  the  aid 
of  tobacco  juice,  both  of  which  are  not  difficult  to 
detect.  The  steady  manufacture  of  these  finer  pieces 
goes  on  in  France,  and  it  has  been  found  that  the 
foggy  atmosphere  of  London  is  especially  useful  in 
producing  the  effect  of  age  upon  the  finer  work, 
consequently  many  forged  pieces  are  shipped  to 
London  to  be  stored  in  order  to  ripen  until  con- 
sidered fit  for  the  American  market,  where  so  many 
forgeries  have  been  planted.  The  reward  is  great, 


The  middle  portion,  consisting  of  the  two  drawers  and  three  panelled  cupboards  above, 
is  genuine  old  carved  oak.  The  stand,  with  the  finely  turned  legs  and  rails,  and  the 
whole  of  the  upper  portion,  is  modern. 


HINTS  TO  COLLECTOKS 


263 


and  even  considering  the  amount  of  trouble  bestowed 
upon  such  pieces  and  the  excellence  of  the  artistic 
work  where  the  highest  skilled  labour  is  employed, 
the  profit  is  enormous.  The  parvenu  buys  his 
Louis  XIV.  or  Louis  XV.  suite,  and  pays  an 
immense  sum  for  pieces  which  are  stated  to  have 
come  from  some  French  nobleman’s  chateau,  whose 
name  must  not  be  divulged,  and  so  the  interesting 
deal  is  brought  to  a successful  termination. 

As  an  object-lesson  as  to  the  truth  of  the  above 
remarks,  the  Wallace  Collection  contains  a modern 
French  copy  in  facsimile,  by  Dasson,  of  the  celebra- 
ted “ Bureau  du  Roi  ” of  the  Louis  XV.  period,  the 
original  being  in  the  Louvre.  The  original  is  fully 
described  in  the  chapter  on  Louis  XV.  style,  and 
it  is  not  too  much  to  assert  that  ninety-nine  per 
cent,  of  the  visitors  to  the  Collection  could  not  say 
that  this  copy  was  not  an  old  French  specimen  of 
over  a century  and  a quarter  ago,  and  the  remaining 
one,  unless  he  happened  to  be  an  expert,  would  not 
question  its  genuineness. 

Old  oak  has  always  been  a favourite  with  the 
public,  and  from  the  modern  Flemish  monstrosities, 
carved  in  evil  manner  and  displaying  proportions  in 
the  worst  possible  taste,  to  the  equally  vulgar  home 
production  in  buffet  or  sideboard,  and  stocked  by 
many  dealers  in  so-called  “ antique  ” furniture,  the 
number  of  grotesque  styles  foisted  upon  the  public 
within  the  last  fifteen  years  has  been  remarkable. 
One  wonders  what  has  become  of  the  high-backed 
oak  chairs,  nearly  black  with  repeated  applications 
of  permanganate  of  potash,  ha\'ing  flaming  red-leather 


264  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


seats.  They  seem  to  have  mysteriously  disappeared 
from  up-to-date  “ antique  ” stores  of  late.  The  public 
has  taken  to  inquiring  into  art  matters  a little  more 
closely.  Nowadays  the  latest  thing  is  “ fumed”  oak, 
which  is  modern  oak  discoloured  by  means  of 
ammonia,  which  darkens  the  surface  of  the  wood 
to  a depth  of  a sixteenth  of  an  inch.  It  is  not  in- 
frequent to  find  an  attempt  made  to  represent  this 
as  old  oak  after  an  elaborate  treatment  with  linseed 
oil,  turpentine,  and  beeswax,  though  an  examination 
of  the  interior  edges  of  the  wood  will  discover  its 
modernity  at  once. 

Of  course,  such  tricks  as  these  are  not  practised  by 
any  firm  of  standing,  who  cannot  afford  to  damage 
their  reputation  by  any  misrepresentation.  As  a 
general  rule  a dealer  will  readily  point  out  the 
details  of  workmanship  and  offer  technical  informa- 
tion of  much  value  to  a beginner,  if  he  discovers  that 
his  customer  is  a collector  desirous  of  acquiring  only 
fine  specimens.  It  is  more  often  than  not  the  folly 
of  the  public,  and  not  the  dishonesty  of  the  dealer, 
which  results  in  trade  frauds  being  committed  in  the 
attempt  to  execute  some  impossible  and  imperative 
order,  which  the  moneyed  collector  has  given.  The 
difference  between  the  genuine  and  the  replica  is 
most  clearly  made  by  old-fashioned  firms  of  high 
standing.  It  is  only  when  the  collector  enters  into 
the  arena  and  endeavours  to  set  forth  in  quest  of 
bargains,  where  he  pits  his  skill  against  that  of  the 
dealer  in  the  hope  of  outwitting  the  latter,  that  he  is 
obviously  on  dangerous  ground.  In  the  one  case  he 
pays  a higher  price  and  obtains  the  benefit  of  the 


HINTS  TO  COLLECTORS 


265 


experience  of  a firm  with  expert  knowledge,  in  the 
other  he  relies  on  his  own  judgment  in  picking  up  a 
bargain  from  some  one  whom  he  believes  to  be 
possessed  of  less  knowledge  than  himself  If  he  is 
successful  he  is  not  slow  to  brag  about  his  cleverness  ; 
but  if  he  is  worsted  in  the  encounter,  and  pays,  let  us 
say,  five  pounds  for  an  object  which  he  fondly  believed 
was  worth  fifty,  if  genuine,  and  which  he  subsequently 
discovers  is  worth  less  than  he  gave,  there  is  nothing 
too  bad  to  say  concerning  his  antagonist. 

It  is  chiefly  by  the  character  of  carved  work  that 
old  pieces  can  be  recognised.  There  are  three  classes 
of  pitfalls  to  avoid. 

1.  Fraudulent  pieces  throughout,  of  modern  wood 
and  of  modern  carving. 

2.  “ Made-up  ” pieces  which  often  consist  of 
genuine  old  pieces  of  carved  wood  pieced  together 
ingeniously  from  fragments  of  carvings,  with  modern 
additions. 

3.  “ Restored  ” pieces  which  are  mainly  old  and 
should  have  received,  if  admitted  to  a collection,  only 
the  necessary  repairs  to  make  them  serviceable. 

With  regard  to  the  first  class,  fraudulent  through- 
out, it  is  the  hope  of  the  writer  that  enough  has 
already  been  written  in  this  volume  to  point  the 
way  to  the  reader  and  to  assist  him  to  follow  his 
natural  inclinations  in  developing  the  necessary 
critical  taste  to  readily  detect  pieces  wholly  false  in 
character  and  feeling. 

“ Made-up  ” pieces  present  a greater  difficulty. 
Considerable  skill  has  been  exercised  in  combining 
certain  parts  of  old  furniture  into  a whole  which  is. 


266  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


however,  mostly  inharmonious.  In  pieces  of  this 
nature  there  is  an  absence  of  feeling  in  style  and 
carving.  It  is  difficult  to  define  the  exact  meaning 
of  the  word  “feeling”  as  applied  to  art  objects,  it  is 
a subtle  expression  of  skill  and  poetry  which  com- 
municates itself  to  the  lover  of  art.  It  is  so  subtle 
and  elusive  that  experts  will  tell  one  that  such  and 
such  a piece  requires  to  be  “ lived  with  ” to  test  its 
authenticity.  Mr.  Frederick  Roe,  whose  volume  on 
“ Ancient  Coffers  and  Cupboards  ” displays  a pro- 
found knowledge  of  his  subject,  writes,  “ it  occasion- 
ally happens  that  pieces  are  so  artfully  made  up  that 
only  living  with  them  will  enable  the  collector  to 
detect  the  truth.  In  dealing  with  pieces  of  this 
suspicious  kind  one  often  has  to  fall  back  on  a sort 
of  instinct.  With  critical  collectors  of  every  sort 
this  innate  sense  plays  a very  important  part.” 

Two  specimens  of  “made-up”  furniture  are  re- 
produced, which  will  bear  close  study  in  order  to 
appreciate  the  difficulty  of  collecting  old  oak. 

The  illustration  of  the  buffet  (p.  261)  has  many 
points  of  interest.  The  general  appearance  of  the 
piece  is  not  inharmonious.  It  has  been  carefully 
thought  out  and  no  less  carefully  put  into  effect. 
The  middle  portion,  consisting  of  the  three  drawers 
and  the  three  cupboards  above,  up  to  and  including 
the  shelf  partition  at  the  top,  is  the  only  old  part. 
The  handles,  locks,  and  escutcheons  of  the  two 
drawers  are  old,  but  the  hinges  above  are  modern 
copies  of  old  designs,  and  the  handles  of  the  cupboards 
are  modern  replicas. 

The  massive  stand  with  artistically  turned  rails  in 


■r 


j 


HINTS  TO  COLLECTORS 


269 

Jacobean  style,  is  soft  wood  artfully  fumed  and 
generously  beeswaxed.  The  whole  of  the  top  por- 
tion has  been  added  and  is  soft  wood  very  well 
carved.  The  carving  of  the  panels  is  also  well 
executed,  and  is  evidently  a copy  of  some  old  design. 

The  older  portion  is  a fine  piece  of  early  Jacobean 
work,  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  distinguish  between 
the  feeling  of  this  and  the  expression  conveyed  by 
the  modern  woodwork.  The  patina  of  the  wood 
after  two  centuries  of  exposure  and  polishing  has 
that  peculiarly  pleasing  appearance  which  accom- 
panies genuine  old  woodwork.  The  edges  of  the 
carving  have  lost  their  sharp  angles,  and  the  mellow- 
ness of  the  middle  panels  are  in  strong  contrast  to 
the  harsher  tone  of  those  of  the  upper  portion. 

Such  a piece  as  this  would  not  deceive  an  expert, 
nor,  perhaps,  is  it  intended  to,  or  greater  care  would 
have  been  bestowed  upon  it,  but  it  is  sufficiently 
harmonious  in  composition  not  to  offend  in  a glaring 
manner,  and  might  easily  deceive  a tyro. 

The  next  piece  illustrated  (p.  267)  is  interesting 
from  another  point  of  view.  It  is  a more  elaborate 
attempt  to  produce  a piece  of  old  furniture  in  which 
the  details  themselves  have  all  the  mellowness  of  fine 
old  oak.  In  fact,  with  the  exception  of  one  portion, 
some  eight  inches  by  three,  to  which  allusion  will  be 
made  later,  the  whole  of  it  is  genuine  old  oak. 

The  three  panels  at  the  top  are  finely  carved  and 
are  Jacobean  work.  The  two  outside  panels  at  the 
bottom,  though  of  a later  period,  are  good  work. 
The  middle  panel  at  the  bottom  is  evidently  a portion 
of  a larger  piece  of  carving,  because  the  pattern 


270  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


abruptly  breaks  off,  and  it  was  most  certainly  not 
designed  by  the  old  carver  to  lie  on  its  side  in  this 
fashion. 

The  two  heads  at  the  top  corners  have  been  cut 
from  some  old  specimen,  and  artfully  laid  on.  The 
carving  on  both  sides,  running  below  each  head  from 
top  to  bottom,  is  of  two  distinct  designs  joined  in 
each  case  in  a line  level  with  the  upper  line  of  the 
lower  panels.  The  two  uprights  on  each  side  of 
the  middle  lower  panel  are  exquisite  pieces  of  carved 
work,  but  certainly  never  intended  to  be  upright. 
They  are  evidently  portions  of  a long,  flowing  orna- 
ment, as  their  cut-off  appearance  too  plainly  shows. 

The  top  panels  have  done  duty  elsewhere,  as  part 
of  the  ornamental  carving  at  the  top  and  bottom  of 
each  lozenge  is  lost.  The  long  line  of  scrolled 
carving  above  them  is  distinctly  of  interest.  On 
the  left  hand,  from  the  head  to  the  middle  of  the 
panel,  a piece  of  newer  carving  has  been  inserted, 
some  eight  inches  long.  The  wood,  at  one  time 
darkened  to  correspond  with  the  adjacent  carving, 
has  become  lighter,  which  is  always  the  case  when 
wood  is  stained  to  match  other  portions.  The 
carving  in  this  new  portion  follows  in  every  detail 
the  lines  of  the  older  design,  and  is  a very  pretty 
piece  of  “ faking.” 

The  cross-piece  running  from  left  to  right,  dividing 
the  lower  panels  from  the  upper,  is  in  three  parts. 
An  examination  of  the  design  shows  that  the  last 
three  circles  on  the  right,  and  the  last  four  on  the 
left,  are  of  smaller  size  than  the  others.  The  design 
evidently  belonged  to  some  other  piece  of  furniture, 


HINTS  TO  COLLECTORS  271 

and  has  been  removed  to  do  service  in  this  “made-up  ” 
production. 

In  all  probability  the  two  uprights  enclosing  the 
top  middle  panel,  and  the  two  uprights  on  the  outside 
at  the  bottom  were  once  portions  of  a carved  bedstead, 
as  they  are  all  of  the  same  size  and  design.  It 
is  a notorious  trick  to  slice  an  old  carved  bedpost 
into  four  pieces,  skilfully  fitting  the  pieces  into 
“made-up”  furniture. 

There  is  a prevalent  idea  that  worm-holes  are 
actually  produced  in  furniture,  in  order  to  give  a 
new  piece  a more  realistic  appearance.  There  are 
traditions  of  duck-shot  having  been  used,  and  there 
is  little  doubt  that  holes  were  drilled  by  makers  who 
knew  their  public.  But  it  is  improbable  that  such 
artifices  would  be  of  much  use  for  deceptive  purposes 
nowadays.  As  a matter  of  fact,  worm-holes  are 
avoided  by  any  one  who  gives  a moment’s  thought 
to  the  matter.  To  get  rid  of  worm  in  furniture  is 
no  easy  task,  and  they  eventually  ruin  any  pieces 
they  tenant. 

The  illustration  (p.  274)  shows  a piece  of  Spanish 
chestnut  badly  honeycombed  by  furniture  worms. 
In  chairs,  especially,  their  havoc  is  almost  irreparable, 
and  in  the  softer  woods  the  legs  become  too  rotten  to 
be  repaired  or  even  strengthened.  Metal  plates  are 
often  screwed  on  the  sides  to  prevent  the  chairs 
falling  to  pieces,  but  they  become  useless  to  sit  upon 
without  fear  of  disaster. 

The  insect  is  really  the  boring  wood-beetle,  which 
is  armed  with  formidable  forceps,  to  enable  it  tO' 
burrow  through  the  wood.  The  worm,  the  larva  of 


272  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


this  beetle,  is  also  provided  with  boring  apparatus, 
and  this  insect,  whether  as  beetle  or  as  worm,  is  a 
deadly  enemy  to  all  furniture.  The  “ death-watch  ” 
is  also  accused  of  being  a depredator  of  books  and  of 
furniture  of  soft  wood. 

To  remove  worms  from  furniture  is  a costly 
undertaking,  requiring  the  greatest  skill.  Large 
pieces  of  furniture  have  actually  to  be  taken  to 
pieces  and  the  whole  of  the  damaged  parts  removed 
with  a chisel.  In  cases  where  the  legs,  or  slender 
supports,  have  been  attacked,  the  difficulty  is  one 
requiring  the  specialist’s  most  delicate  attention. 
Various  applications  are  recommended,  but  cannot 
be  stated  to  be  reliable.  Injecting  paraffin  is  said 
to  be  the  best  remedy,  and  putting  the  pieces  in  a 
chamber  where  all  the  openings  have  been  sealed,  and 
lighting  pans  of  sulphur  underneath  the  furniture, 
allowing  the  specimens  to  remain  in  this  fumigating 
bath  for  some  days  is  another  method  resorted  to. 

With  regard  to  Chippendale  furniture,  a word 
of  caution  is  necessary.  It  is  as  impossible  for 
Chippendale  and  his  workmen  to  have  produced 
all  the  furniture  attributed  to  them  as  it  is  for  the 
small  factory  at  Lowestoft  to  have  made  all  the 
china  with  which  it  is  credited.  As  has  been  shown 
in  the  chapter  on  Thomas  Chippendale,  his  styles 
were  most  extensively  copied  by  his  contemporaries 
all  over  the  country  and  by  many  makers  after  him, 
and  modern  makers  produce  a great  quantity  of 
“Chippendale”  every  year.  Only  a careful  examina- 
tion of  museum  pieces  will  train  the  eye  of  the 
collector.  The  fine  sense  of  proportion,  at  once 


HINTS  TO  COLLECTORS 


273 


noticeable  in  the  genuine  Chippendale  chair,  is 
absent  in  the  modern  copy,  and,  above  all,  the 
carving  in  the  latter  is  thin  and  poor.  In  the  old 
days  the  wastage  of  wood  was  not  a thing  which 
the  master  had  in  his  mind.  In  modern  copies 
the  curl  of  the  arm,  or  the  swell  at  the  top  of  the 
back,  shows  a regard  for  economy.  There  is  a 
thin,  flat  look  about  the  result,  which  ought  not 
to  be  mistaken.  Scrolls  and  ribbon-work  are  often 
added  to  later  pieces  made  in  the  style  of  Chippen- 
dale, which  have  enough  wood  in  their  surfaces  to 
bear  carving  away. 

An  ingenious  device  is  adopted 
in  cases  of  inlaid  pieces  of  a small 
nature,  such  as  imitation  Sheraton 
clock-cases  and  knife-boxes  and 
the  frames  of  mirrors.  Old  en- 
gravings are  procured  of  scroll-  spurious  mar- 
work,  usually  from  the  end  of  Q^etry  work. 
some  book.  The  illustration  (p.  259)  shows  the  class 
of  engravings  selected.  These  engravings  are  coated 
with  a very  thin  layer  of  vellum,  which  is  boiled  down 
to  a liquid,  and  carefully  spread  over  them.  After 
this  treatment  they  are  ready  to  be  glued  on  to  the 
panels  to  be  “ faked,”  and,  when  coated  over  with 
transparent  varnish,  they  present  the  appearance  of 
an  ivory  and  ebony  inlay. 

The  frauds  practised  in  satinwood  and  painted 
pieces  are  many  and  are  exceedingly  difficult  to 
detect.  Much  of  Sheraton’s  furniture  was  veneered 
with  finely  selected  specimens  of  West  India  satin- 
wood.  These  carefully  chosen  panels  were  painted 

18 


274  CHATS  ON  OLD  FURNITURE 


by  Cipriani  and  others.  The  modern  “ faker  ” has 
not  the  material  to  select  from,  as  the  satinwood 
imported  is  not  so  beautiful  nor  so  richly  varied  in 
grain  as  in  the  old  days.  He  removes  a side  panel 
from  an  old  piece,  and  substitutes  another  where  its 
obnoxious  presence  is  not  so  noticeable.  To  this 
old  panel  he  affixes  a modern  coloured  print  after 
one  of  Sheraton’s  artists,  which,  when  carefully 
varnished  over  and  skilfully  treated  so  as  to 
represent  the  cracks  in  the  supposed  old  painting, 
is  ready  for  insertion  in  the  “ made-up  ” sideboard, 
to  catch  the  fancy  of  the  unwary  collector. 


FINIS. 


PIECE  OF  SPANISH  CHESTNUT  SHOWING 
RAVAGES  OF  WORMS. 


INDEX 


A 

Adam,  the  brothers,  and  their 
style,  209,  251-256 
Adam  armchair  (illustrated),  243 
Admiralty,  screen  and  gateway, 
designed  by  Robert  Adam,  242 
Anne,  Queen,  furniture  of,  prices 
realised  at  auction,  153 

insularity  of  furniture  in 

reign  of,  136 

well-constructed  furniture 

of  period  of,  145 

Apsley  House,  collection  of  furni- 
ture at,  209 

Armoire,  see  Glossary,  23 
Ascham,  quotation  from,  68 
Ashmolean  Museum,  Oxford, 
chair  at,  115 

B 

Baroque,  see  Glossary,  23 
Barrow,  Sam,  name  of  maker, 
on  Queen  Anne  clock,  148 
Battersea  enamel,  its  use  on  furni- 
ture, 252 


Berain,  Jean,  162 
Blenheim,  chair  from,  222 
Bodleian  Library,  Oxford,  illus- 
tration of  chair  at,  82 
Bombe^  see  Glossary,  23 
Bookcase  by  Chippendale,  225, 
231 

Boucher,  182,  195 
Boule,  Andre  Charles,  and  his 
marquetry,  160-162 

cabinet  (illustrated),  165 

see  Glossary,  23 

and  counter-boule  (illus- 
trated), showing  difference  be- 
tween, 163 

Bridal  chest  (German),  43 
Bromley-by-Bow,  “ Old  Palace,” 
oak  panelling  from,  65 
Brown  and  Bool,  Messrs.,  speci- 
mens from  collection  of,  141, 

150 

Buhl  work,  160 
Bureau,  see  Glossary,  24 
Burr- walnut  panels,  139 
Butter-cupboard,  104 


275 


276 


INDEX 


c 

Cabinet,  ebony,  formerly  property 
of  Oliver  Cromwell,  99 
Cabriole,  see  Glossary,  24 
Cabriole-leg,  introduction  of  into 
England,  127 
Caffieri,  177,  191 

Cambridge,  King’s  College 
Chapel,  woodwork  of,  63 
Cane  seats  and  backs  of  chairs, 
adoption  of,  117 

work  in  chairs,  later  de- 
velopment of,  122 
Carolean,  see  Glossary,  25 
Carving  supplanted  by  cane-work 
panels,  117 

Cassone  (marriage  coffer),  the 
Italian,  42 

Caryatides,  see  Glossary,  24 
Cassette,  (strong  box)  of  period  of 
Louis  XIV.,  158 
Cassone,  see  Glossary,  24 
Catherine  of  Braganza,  fashions 
introduced  by,  114 
Cecil,  Lord  Burleigh,  quotation 
from,  66 

Chair,  Charles  L,  93,  95 

Chippendale,  223,  224, 

226,  227,  232,  233 

• “ Cromwellian,”  96 

high-backed,  Portuguese, 

I14 

Italian  (1620),  94 

Jacobean,  made  from  tim- 
ber of  Drake’s  Golden  Hind,  83 

James  L,  87,  89 

James  11. , 123 

Louis  XIII.  period,  159 

ribbon-back,  222,  223 

Oliver  Goldsmith’s,  215 


Chair  with  arms  of  first  Earl  of 
Strafford,  93 

Chairs,  test  as  to  age  of,  100 
— types  of  Jacobean  (illus- 
trated), 97,  100,  105,  120,  121, 
122,  123,  124 

types  of  Queen  Anne  period 

(illustrated),  143 

upholstered,  adopted  in 

late  Elizabethan  days,  75 
Chambers,  Sir  William,  216 
Chardin,  picture  by,  showing 
ladder-back  chair,  245 
Charles  1.  furniture,  prices  realised 
at  auction,  106 

IL  furniture,  prices  real- 
ised at  auction,  129 

IL,  repartee  of,  114 

Charterhouse,  specimen  at,  illustra- 
tion of,  227 

Chatsworth,  work  of  Grinling 
Gibbons  at,  121 

Chests  of  drawers,  Jacobean,  117 
China  collecting,  influence  of,  on 
furniture,  127 

Chinese  and  Japanese  cabinets, 
148 

“ Chinese  ” Chippendale,  213,  221 
Chippendale,  Thomas,  and  his 
style,  213-238 ; his  Director, 

215 

bureau-bookcase,  225,  231 

furniture,  tricks  concern- 
ing, 272;  prices  of,  227,  236 
Cipriani,  249 

Classic  models  paramount,  205 
Claw-and-ball  feet  adopted  by 
Chippendale,  216 
feet  (prior  to  Chippen- 
dale), 146 

foot,  introduction  of,  127 


INDEX 


277 


Clock,  “Grandfather,”  introduc- 
tion of,  127 

Clocks,  “Grandfather,”  147 
Colbert,  the  guiding  spirit  of  art 
under  Louis  XIV.,  159 
Collectors,  hints  to,  259-274 
Commode,  see  Glossary,  24 
Commodes  (illustrated),  Cressent. 
171  ; Louis  XIV.,  173  ; Caffieri, 
175  ; Riesener,  197 
Contre  partie,  see  Glossary,  24 
Copeland,  designs  of,  247 
Copies  of  old  furniture,  259,  263 

of  fine  French  pieces,  185, 

197 

Cottage  furniture  (Chippendale 
style),  232 

Counter-boule,  see  Glossary,  24 

boule,  161 

Court  cupboard,  70 
Cowley,  quotation  from,  85 
Cradle,  with  initials  and  date,  96 
Cressent,  Charles,  177,  178 
Crispin  de  Passe,  chair  designed 

by,  159 

Cromwellian  chair,  96 
Cromwell’s  ebony  cabinet,  96 
Cushions  for  chairs  when  adopted, 
75 

D 

Darly,  248 
Dated  pieces — 

1593,  Elizabethan  bedstead,  66 
1603,  Mirror,  carved  oak  frame, 

71 

1603,  Court  cupboard,  73 
1616,  Oak  table,  85 
1623,  Chair,  97 

1641,  Cradle,  96 

1642,  Chair,  159 


Dated  pieces  {continued) — 

1653,  CdbinQi,  front i piece 
1760-69,  “ Bureau  du  roi,”  185 
1769,  Bureau,  196 
1810,  Jewel  cabinet,  207 
David,  195,  208,  209 
Derbyshire  chairs,  103 
Diderot,  205 

Director^  designs  of  chair-backs 
from,  222,  225 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  chair  made 
from  timber  of  Golden  Hind,  82 
Drawers,  chests  of,  Jacobean,  117 
Dressers,  Normandy,  103 

“ Welsh,”  100 

Dublin  Museum,  illustration  ot 
oak  chest  at,  44 

Dutch  art,  introduction  of,  by 
William  of  Orange,  124 
house,  interior  of  (illus- 
trated), III 

lacquer  work,  151 

marquetry,  128,  146 

marquetry  chair,  illustra- 
ted, 143 

marquetry,  prices  realised 

at  auction,  132 

E 

Eassie,  Walter,  illustrations  from 
drawings  by,  171,  183 
Egyptian  design,  influence  of,  247 
Eighteenth  century,  early,  well- 
constructed  furniture  of,  145 
interior  of  room  (illus- 
trated), 235 

Elizabethan  mansions,  some  note- 
worthy, 67 

Elizabethan  woodwork,  fine  ex- 
ample of,  65 


INDEX 


278 

Empire  style  furniture,  202-210 

its  influence  on  English 

makers,  209 

England,  Renaissance  in,  37, 

59-78 

F 

Farmhouse  furniture,  100 
Figure  in  wood,  how  obtained, 
76,  1 18 

Fire  of  London,  destruction  of 
furniture  by,  120 
First  Empire  style,  203-210 
Flemish  wood-carving,  its  influ- 
ence on  English  craftsmen,  49 
Fontainebleau,  illustration  of 
jewel  cabinet  at,  207 
Foreign  workmen  employed  in 
England,  37 
Fragonard,  182,  195 
France,  Renaissance  in,  43 
Francis  I.,  patron  of  the  new  art, 
47 

Frauds  perpetrated  on  collectors, 
259-274 

French  polish,  see  Glossary,  24, 
236 

French  Revolution,  vandalism 
during,  204 

G 

Gate-leg  table,  see  Glossary,  24 

table,  95 

Gibbons,  Grinling,  work  of,  12 1 
Gillow,  248 

Golden  Hind,  chair  made  from 
timbers  of,  82 

Goldsmith,  Oliver,  chair  of,  215, 

216 


Gothic,  see  Glossary,  25 

revival,  its  influence  on 

Chippendale,  221 
Gouthiere,  Pierre,  191,  192,  197 
Grandfather  clock,  147 

clock,  introduction  of,  127 

Great  Hall  at  Hampton  Court,  63 
Grimm,  quotation  from,  205 
Grotesque  design  prevalent  in 
Elizabethan  furniture,  69 

H 

Hall,  Hampton  Court,  the  Great, 

63 

Middle  Temple,  carved 

screen  at,  65 

Hampton  Court,  the  Great  Hall 
at,  63 

Court,  work  of  Grinling 

Gibbons  at,  121 

Hampton  & Sons,  Messrs.,  pieces 
from  collection  of,  59,  95,  99, 
1 15,  120,  121,  135,  143,  147, 
148,  250 

Harrington,  Sir  John,  quotation 
from,  75 

Henry  VH.’s  chapel,  Westmin- 
ster Abbey,  63 

VHL,  patron  of  the  new 

art,  37 

! Heppelwhite,  the  style  of, 241-256 

chairs  (illustrated),  243 

Herculaneum  and  Pompeii,  influ- 
ence of  excavations  at,  204,  209 
Hints  to  Collectors,  259-274 
Hogarth,  William,  246 
Holbein  in  England,  37 
Honey,  W.  G.,  Esq.,  specimen 
from  collection  of,  151 
Huygens,  Dutch  lacquer  of,  182 


INDEX 


279 


I 

Ince  & Mayhew’s  designs,  247 
India  office,  specimen  at,  illustra- 
tion of,  226 

Ingenious  contrivances  of  Shera- 
ton’s furniture,  25 1 
Inlay,  see  Glossary,  25 

in  Elizabethan  pieces,  69 

Italian  art  dominates  Elizabethan 
fashion,  68 

Italy,  Renaissance  in,  41 

J 

Jacobean,  see  Glossary,  25 

furniture,  its  fine  simplicity, 

104 

Jacobean  furniture,  prices  realised 
at  auction,  106,  129 
James  I.,  chair  at  Knole  House, 
86 

II.  furniture,  prices  realised 

at  auction,  130 

Japanese  and  Chinese  cabinets, 
148 

Japanese  lac  imitated,  182 
Jones  Bequest,  illustrations  of 
specimens  in,  165,  179,  193 
Inigo,  his  influence,  93 

K 

Kauffman,  Angelica,  249 
Kent,  eighteenth-century  designer, 
246 

Kew  Gardens,  pagoda  at,  216 
King’s  College  Chapel,  Cambridge , 
woodwork  of,  63 

Kitchen  furniture  (Chippendale 
style),  232 

Knole  House,  James  I.  furniture 
at,  86 


L 

Lac,  see  Glossary,  26 
Japanese  and  Chinese  imi- 
tated, 182 

Lacquer,  see  Glossary,  26 
Lancaster  & Co.,  Messrs.  Harold 
G.,  specimens  from  collection  of, 
122,  123,  137,  231,  232,  241, 

251 

Leather  work,  cut  design,  Portu- 
guese chair-back,  128 
Le  Bas,  Rev.  H.  V.,  illustration  of 
specimen  in  possession  of,  210 
Lebrun,  Madame,  205 
Leczinski,  Stanislas,  King  of 
Poland,  196 

Linen  pattern,  see  Glossary,  26 
Lock,  Matthias,  designs  of,  247 
Louis  XHI.,  chair  of  period  of, 

159 

XIV.,  period  of,  157-167 

XV.,  period  of,  171-187 

XVI.,  period  of,  191-200 

Louvre,  copy  of  picture  in,  203 

illustration  of  portrait  in, 

209 

M 

Macaulay,  Lord,  quotation  from, 
96,  136 

“ Made-up  ” pieces,  265 
Madrid  National  Museum,  illus- 
tration of  specimen  at,  52 
Mahogany  period,  34 

how  procured  by  British 

captains,  214 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh’s  dis- 

I CO  very  of,  214 

Mansions  built  in  Elizabethan 
I days,  67 


280 


INDEX 


Manwaring,  designs  of,  247 
Marie  Antoinette,  furniture  belong- 
ing to,  179,  180,  195 
Marie  Louise,  jewel  cabinet  of, 

208 

Marquetry,  see  Glossary,  26 

Dutch,  128 

Dutch,  146 

elaborate,  180,  182 

in  Elizabethan  pieces,  69 

work,  spurious,  273 

Martin,  Sieur  Simon  Etienne 
{^Vernis- Martin)^  182 
IMartin’s  varnish  ( Vernis- Martin), 
see  Glossary,  28 

Meissonier,  inspirer  of  rococo 
style,  177 

Middle  Temple  Hall,  carved  oak 
screen  at,  65 

Mirrors,  arrangement  in  Hampton 
Court  galleries,  123 

at  Nell  Gwynne’s  house, 

123 

Chippendale,  229 

made  by  French  and 

Italian  workmen,  124 

Queen  Anne,  136 

various  forms  of,  1 24 

Mortise,  see  Glossary,  26 
Mother-of-pearl  inlay,  seventeenth 
century,  116 

Munich  National  Museum,  illus- 
tration of  specimen  at,  39 

N 

Naples  Museum,  illustration  of 
table  at,  205 

Napoleon,  his  influence  on  art, 
208 

Natoire,  182,  195 


Needlework  decorated  cabinet, 
Charles  H.  period,  112 
Netherlands,  Renaissance  in,  49 
Netscher,  Caspar,  illustration  after 
picture  by,  i i i 
Normandy  dressers,  103 
Notable  examples  of  sixteenth, 
century  English  woodwork,  65 

O 

Oak,  collectors  of,  hints  to,  103, 
118 

furniture,  the  collector’s 

polish  for,  1 18 

period,  34 

polish,  see  Glossary,  26 

Oeben,  Jean  Francois,  178 
Old  oak,  polish  for,  118 

P 

Panjuetry,  see  Glossary,  26 
Passe  Crispin  de,  chair  designed 

by,  159 

Pater,  192 

Penshurst  Place,  Indo-Portuguese 
furniture  at,  115 

Petworth  House,  work  ot  Grin- 
ling Gibbons  at,  121 
Polish,  French,  24  ; oil,  26 
Pollen,  J.,  Plungerford,  quotation 
from,  196 

Pompeii,  influence  of  excavations 
at,  204,  208,  247 

Ponsonby-Fane,  Right  Hon.  Sir 
Spencer,  specimens  in  collec- 
tion of,  loi,  224 
Portuguese  furniture,  late  seven- 
teenth century,  in  England,  114 


INDEX 


281 


Q 

Queen  Anne  cabinet  (illustrated), 
141 

chairs  (illustrated),  143 

furniture,  prices  realised 

at  auction,  153 

mirror  frame  (illustrated), 

137 

settle  (illustrated),  149, 

155 

R 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  mahogany 
first  brought  home  by,  214 
Recamier,  portrait  of,  by  David, 
209 

Reeded,  see  Glossary,  27 
Renaissance,  see  Glossary,  27 

in  England,  37,  59-78 

in  France,  43 

in  Italy,  41 

in  the  Netherlands,  49 

in  Spain,  48 

on  the  Continent,  33-55 

origin  of,  38,  41 

Restored,  see  Glossary,  27 
cupboard  showing  over- 
elaboration, 73 
“ Restored  ” pieces,  265 
Revolution  in  France,  vandalism 
during,  204 

Ribbon-back  chair  (illustrated), 
222 

ornamentation  adapted 

from  France,  64 ; (illustrated) 
60 

pattern,  early  use  of,  by 

French  woodcarvers,  92 
Riesener,  Jean  Franij'ois,  185,  191, 
192,  195.  197,  208 


Robinson,  V.  J.,  Esq.,  C.I.E., 
furniture  belonging  to,  219 
Rococo,  see  Glossary,  27 
Roe,  Mr.  Frederick,  quotation 
from,  266 

Roentgen,  David,  182 

S 

Sackville,  Lord,  early  Jacobean 
furniture  in  collection  of,  86 
St.  Paul’s  Cathedral,  work  of 
Grinling  Gibbons  at,  121 
Secret  drawers,  114 

drawers,  pieces  with,  113, 

157,  231 

drawers,  Sheraton’s  love  of, 

251 

processes  to  impart  age  to 

spurious  pieces,  260 
Settee,  see  Glossary,  27 

upholstered,  early  Jacobean, 

at  Knole,  90 

Settle,  see  Glossary,  28,  60 

Queen  Anne  style,  145, 

149 

Sevres  porcelain  as  decoration  to 
furniture,  191 

porcelain  in  harmony  with 

furniture,  181 

Shattock,  Esq.,  T.  Foster,  speci- 
mens from  collection  of,  45 
Shearer,  248 

Sheraton,  Thomas,  and  his  style, 

209,  241-256 

chair  (illustrated),  243 

mechanical  contrivances 

of  his  furniture,  251 

poverty  of,  248  ; his 

opinion  of  Chippendale,  248 


282 


INDEX 


Sigerson,  Dr.,  Dublin,  specimens 
from  collection  of,  157,  206 
Sixteenth-century  woodwork,  fine 
example  of,  65 
Spain,  Renaissance  in,  48 
Spanish  furniture  (illustrated), 
cabinet,  51  ; chest,  52 
Spitalfields’  velvet  for  furniture, 

147 

weaving  founded  by  aliens, 

122 

Splat,  see  Glossary,  28 
Stothard,  copy  of  engraving  by, 

23D  235 

Strafford,  first  Earl  of,  chair  with 
arms  of,  94 

Strapwork,  Glossary,  28 

borrowed  from  Flemish 

designers,  64;  illustrated,  61, 

68 

Elizabethan,  69 

Stretche,  Esq.,  T.  E.  Price, 
specimens  from  collection  of, 
75,  78,  97,  139,  140 
Stretcher,  see  Glossary,  28 

in  chairs,  evolution  of  the, 

122 

wear  given  to,  by  feet  of 

sitters,  100 

Sutton,  Thomas,  founder  of 
Charterhouse  Hospital,  86 
Symonds,  John  Addington,  “The 
Renaissance  in  Italy,”  quoted, 

41 

T 

Table,  gate-leg,  see  Glossary,  24 
Tapestry  factory  established  at 
Mortlake,  92 

in  harmony  with  furniture, 

181 


Tenon,  see  Glossary,  28 
Terror,  Reign  of,  vandalism  during, 
204 

Timber  split  to  give  figure  in 
surface,  76,  118 

Transition  between  Gothic  and 
Renaissance,  44,  4.7,  63 
Turned  work,  see  Glossary,  28 

U 

Upholstered  chairs  adopted  in  late 
Elizabethan  days,  75 

seat  (William  and  Mary), 

122 

V 

Vandyck  at  the  Court  of  Charles 
I.,  92 

Varnish,  oil,  composition  of,  not 
now  known,  119 

spirit,  a modern  invention, 

1 18 

Vernis-Martin,  see  Glos- 
sary, 28 

Veneer,  see  Glossary,  28 
Veneered  work,  its  adoption,  139 
Veneers,  woods  irsed  as,  see  Glos- 
sary, 29 

Vernis-Mariin  (Martin’s  varnish), 
see  Glossary,  28,  182 
Versailles,  sums  spent  upon  build- 
ing, 166 ; vandalism  at,  172, 
177 

W 

Wallace  Collection,  illustrations 
of  specimens,  at,  163,  171,  181, 
183 


Walnut  period,  34 


INDEX 


Walnut  veneer,  Queen  Anne 
period,  139 
Walpole,  Horace,  221 
Waring,  Messrs.,  specimens  from 
collection  of,  81,  117,  119,  143, 
149,  197 
Watteau,  192 
Wedgwood,  Josiah,  247 
Wellington,  Duke  of,  collection 
in  possession  of,  209 
Welsh  dresser,  100 
Westminster  Abbey,  Henry 
VH.’s  chapel,  63 
William  and  Mary  furniture,  prices 
realised  at  auction,  130 
Winckelmann,  205 


283 

Woods  preferred  by  Grinling 
Gibbons,  121 

used  for  delicate  carving 

by  foreign  schools,  1 16 
used  in  furniture,  see 

Glossary,  29 

with  fancy  names,  29 ; 

botanical  names  of,  196 
Woodwork,  sixteenth  century,  fine 
examples  of,  65 

Worms,  ravages  of  furniture,  234, 
271,  274 

Wren,  Sir  Christopher,  120 
Y 

Yorkshire  chairs,  103 


"Cbe  ©resbam  press, 

UxNWIN  BROTHERS,  LIMITED, 
WOKING  AND  LONDON. 


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